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GENERAL EDITOR 
WILBUR LUCIUS CROSS 

PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN YALE UNIVERSITY 



U-. 




The Globe Theater 



SHAKESPEARE'S 
HAMLET 



EDITED BY 

JOHN LIVINGSTON LOWES 

PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LITERATURE IN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY 




NEW YORK 

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 
1914 



TK2,?o7 



Copyright, 19 14, 

BY 

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 



M/IY23I9I4 

g;Ct,A376013 



CONTENTS 



5^ 



Introduction 

I. Shakespeare's Life and Works 

II. Hamlet 
Descriptive Bibliography 
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark 
Notes and Comment 
Glossary .... 

The Globe Theater 
Map of Elizabethan London 
Interior of Fortune Theater 
The Swan Theater . 



page 

vii 

xiv 

xxix 

I 

159 
245 



Frontispiece 

vi 

xxxiv 

. 156 



INTRODUCTION 



SHAKESPEARE'S LIFE AND WORKS 

William Shakespeare was baptized at Stratford-on- 
Avon on April 26, 1564, so that the date of his birth is 
probably April 22 or 23. He was the son of John Shake- 
speare, who had left his father's farm at Snitterfield 
about thirteen years before, and had come to Stratford, 
where he engaged in business (especially in the sale of 
agricultural produce), and became one of the prominent 
citizens of the town, holding office in the borough more 
than once. He married, in I557, Mary Arden, the 
daughter of a wealthy farmer of excellent family, whose 
home was at Wilmcote, near Stratford. The dramatist, 
accordingly, came of good English stock. 

Shakespeare grew up in the little town of Stratford, 
in one of the most beautiful districts of England. He 
received his education in the Stratford grammar school, 
where he got the " small Latin and less Greek " with 
which Ben Jonson credited him. But his training, at least 
in Latin, was doubtless pretty thorough, and Jonson's 
statement must be interpreted in the light of his own 
very unusual scholarship. Shakespeare, nevertheless, was 



vn 



viii Introduction 

not primarily a scholar; his immense knowledge of men 
and things was gained in other ways. 

In 1582, when he was a mere boy of less than nineteen 
years, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, a woman 
of twenty-seven, the daughter of a neighboring farmer 
in the little village of Shottery. The marriage does not 
seem to have been a very happy one; and three years 
later, in 1585, Shakespeare left Stratford, without his 
family (three children had been born to him), and went 
up to London. The tradition that he abandoned Strat- 
ford on account of difficulties into which he had fallen 
through poaching on the estate of Sir Thomas Lucy may 
have at least an element of truth in it, but there is no 
certainty regarding the details. 

The London to which Shakespeare went in 1585 or 
1586 must not be thought of as the vast metropolis we 
know to-day. It was a city of between one and two 
hundred thousand inhabitants only. But it was the center 
of the stirring life of a period more keenly alive, perhaps, 
than any other in English history, and it afforded a stim- 
ulating environment for the development of a genius 
like Shakespeare's. It was a time when horizons had been 
almost immeasurably widened. The discovery of the 
New World, with the possibilities which it was still 
thought to hold of realizing the dreams of centuries, had 
quickened men's imaginations to a degree which it is diffi- 
cult for us to grasp. The Reformation had brought with 
it a new freedom of thought; the Revival of Learning 
had opened up another new world, and from Italy espe- 
cially — " that great limbec of working brains," as one 



Shakespeare's Life and Works ix 

of Shakespeare's contemporaries called it — young English- 
men were eagerly bringing back new literary forms. The 
war with Spain, that culminated in the defeat of the 
Armada, was awakening a new national consciousness. 
In a word, when Shakespeare came up to London, he 
found a community intensely alive at every point, — a com- 
munity surpassingly adapted to call out just such powers 
as he possessed, and no less ready to respond to what it 
thus called out. 

Particularly was this true in connection with the drama. 
Plays founded (for the most part) on the Bible had been 
popular all over England for centuries. Then, as the Latin 
comedies and tragedies — especially those of Plautus and 
Seneca — were more and more studied in the schools, and 
as the influence of the Renaissance in Italy and France 
had spread to England, the field had widened. And just 
at the time when Shakespeare arrived in London a group 
of young university men were giving the drama a fresh 
impetus and enlarging still further its scope. Plays of 
all sorts were being written, in response to the varying 
popular demand; delicate court comedies, like John 
Lyly's; plays that experimented in many fields, like those 
of Peele and Greene; crude but powerful tragedies, like 
Kyd's; dramas like Marlowe's, that expressed, in the 
new medium of blank verse, the boundless aspirations of 
the time; plays that dealt with history, mythology, fairy- 
lore, adventure, crime — everything was grist that came to 
the playwrights' mill, and the demand for more plays 
was steadily growing. 

And with the demand for more plays went hand in 



X Introduction 

hand the demand for more theaters. When Shakespeare 
came to London there were only two. Before Hamlet 
was written six new ones had been established. With 
one exception they were without the city walls, since 
theaters were forbidden within the civic jurisdiction, and 
the most popular of them, including the Globe, were 
just across the river, on what was known as the Bank- 
side. Here, then, either across London Bridge or in 
little boats, came of an afternoon (for the plays were 
always given by daylight) the throngs of Londoners — 
tradesmen, gallants, staid citizens, soldiers, sailors — who 
formed the audience at the Rose, the Swan, the Globe, and 
(later) the Hope. Their destination, however, was very 
different from the theaters we know. The buildings 
were round or hexagonal, and for the most part open 
to the sky, except for a sort of hood that in some cases 
projected over the stage. The larger part of the audience 
stood in the pit (see note on HI, ii, 12), where the 
admission price was low; there were, however, galleries 
as well, and seats were also provided on the stage. And 
the stage itself was utterly unlike ours. It projected 
straight out into the body of the theater — in one case, 
we know (for the plans have been preserved), practically 
half the distance to the outer wall — so that it was sur- 
rounded by spectators on three of its four sides, and 
actually had spectators seated on it too. An Elizabethan 
play, in other words, stood in the most intimate relation 
to its audience; the stage was a little island in a sea 
of upturned faces, and the sea encroached upon the island 
even then. There were no long waits for shifts of 



Shakespeare's Life and Works xi 

scenery; the plays proceeded with few pauses, and with 
a continuity of action unknown to the modern stage. 
What Shakespeare found, then, was a community that 
eagerly demanded plays, a keen and active competition 
to supply that demand, and stage conditions which per- 
mitted the swiftest and most intimate response between 
actors and audience. 

What Shakespeare did was first of all to become an 
actor, and an actor he seems to have remained until 
towards the close of his career. But he must very soon 
have begun to serve his apprenticeship as a playwright 
too — collaborating (as the custom was) with more 
experienced dramatists in the writing of new plays, in 
revamping older plays, in combining two plays into one — 
doing, in a word, the sort of hack-work that regularly 
belonged to the initial stages of his craft. Within half 
a dozen years, however, his own plays began to appear, 
and for the next two decades — from about 1591 to about 
161 1 — one followed another, with steadily growing power. 
Nor was he only actor and playwright. In 1599 he 
became a shareholder in the Globe Theater, and he later 
acquired an interest in the Blackfriars — a private theater 
within the city walls.^ As actor, as playwright, and as 
manager, then, Shakespeare knew his profession to the 
minutest details. Thorough and practical knowledge of 
his craft joined with his genius to make him what he was. 



^ The Blackfriars, unlike the public theaters, was roofed over, 
artificially lighted, and it charged higher admission. Although 
it was within the city walls, it was on ground not within the 
civic jurisdiction. 



xli Introduction 

The general order and character of his plays Is indi- 
cated in Professor Pierce's bibliography that follows this 
Introduction. One thing may be emphasized here. 
Shakespeare's plays show a development which is the 
result not only of growing powers, but also of conscious 
effort to improve upon what he had already done. Again 
and again it happens that a situation, a type of character, 
a dramatic device of some sort, a method of handling a 
plot, which has left, in its execution in an earlier play, 
something to be desired, is taken up again in a later 
play, and done surpassingly and once for all. Nothing 
is farther removed from fact than the rather stupid 
catchword, " Shakespeare never repeats." He was con- 
stantly repeating, because, for one reason, he was con- 
stantly trying to do better something that he had done 
not so well before. The common idea that genius is in- 
dependent of a hard-earned mastery of technique and of 
an artistic conscience which demands that one proceed 
" from well to better, daily self-surpast " — this fallacy 
never had a better refutation than Shakespeare's develop- 
ment affords. 

Something of this care which Shakespeare (contrary 
to the widespread popular idea) exercised in his work 
may be seen by comparing the Second Quarto of Hamlet 
with the First. To do this with any degree of thorough- 
ness lies beyond the purpose of a school study of the 
play. But one brief passage will serve at least to illus- 
trate Shakespeare's methods in revision. The reading of 
the First Quarto for I, i, 150-52 is as follows: 



Shakespeare's Life and Works xlii 

The Cock that is the trumpet to the morne, 
Doth with his earley and shrill crowing throate 
Awake the god of day, and at his sound, etc. 

These lines have become, in the Second Quarto, the 
following : 

• The cock th^t is the trumpet to the morne, 
Doth with his lofty and shrill sounding throat 
Awake the God of day, and at his ^warning, etc. 

It is clear at a glance that the change from " shrill 
crowing" to ''shrill sounding" has made it necessary to 
substitute another word for sound in the next line. But 
the word actually substituted {warning) introduces at 
once a rime with morning two lines before. The further 
change from morning to morne of course grows out of 
the necessity of avoiding such a rime. The interest of 
comparisons like these is endless. For us, however, in 
our study, its chief value lies in the light it throws on 
one reason for Shakespeare's success — his capacity, that 
is, • for taking pains, which is one ingredient even of 
genius such as his. 

His career, moreover, was successful, even when judged 
by other than literary standards. For his creative power 
was not inconsistent with a keen and practical business 
sense. His income as an actor, as a shareholder in two 
remunerative theaters, and as the most popular playwright 
of his day was a large and growing one. In 1597, only 
eleven years after he came up to London, he bought the 
largest house in Stratford, known as New Place, and 
during the following years improved it, making at in- 



xlv Introduction 

tervals other investments in and about the town. In i6i i, 
at the height of his fame, he returned to Stratford, twenty- 
six years after he had left it, and lived there, on his 
own estate, until his death at the age of fifty-two, April 23, 
1616. 

After his death his friend and greatest rival, Ben 
Jonson, wrote of him: " I loved the man and do honor 
his memory, on this side idolatry, as well as any. He was, 
indeed, honest and of an open and free nature." It is 
useless to try to piece out the facts of his biography from 
his plays; but the more thoroughly one studies them, the 
profounder is one's conviction of the soundness and whole- 
someness of character, and of the deepening moral in- 
sight, of the man who wrote them. 



II 

HAMLET 

The first question about a Shakespearean play has to 
do with its text — with the form and manner, that is, 
in which the play has come down to us. Shakespeare's 
plays were published in two different forms. Sixteen of 
them appeared in small volumes called quartos, each con- 
taining a single play. And all of them, except Pericles, 
were published (the remaining twenty for the first time) 
in 1623, in a large volume known as the First Folio. 
For a number of the sixteen plays referred to there are 
two or more quartos (in two cases as many as six) ; and 



Hamlet xv 

three folios (dated 1632, 1663, and 1685) followed the 
first. The play of Hamlet exists in three forms: one, 
known as the First Quarto, published in 1603 ; another, 
known as the Second Quarto, published in 1604; the 
third is the text that is found in the First Folio of 1623. 

These three forms of the play differ from one another 
in many ways. The First Quarto is little more than 
half as long as the Second, and the text Is evidently 
imperfect, and in many passages incorrect. In the Second 
Quarto the arrangement of the scenes Is different, and 
in addition to the fact that the play is " enlarged to almost 
as much agalne as It was" (as the title-page states), the 
characterization and the treatment In general are vastly 
Improved. The text of the First Folio is essentially that 
of the Second Quarto, but a number of passages that 
occur In the Second Quarto are omitted In the Folio, 
and the Folio contains a few passages that do not appear 
In the Quartos. The text of the play as It Is found In 
modern editions Is made up by combining the texts of the 
Second Quarto and First Folio, with some aid, here and 
there, from the First Quarto. 

The relations of the two Quartos to each other, and 
of the Folio to both, have been much disputed. But It 
seems fairly clear that the First Quarto represents a 
pirated edition of the first form of Shakespeare's play, 
probably taken down hastily and surreptitiously in short- 
hand by some agent of the publishers, and possibly pieced 
out to a slight degree from actors' copies ; that the Second 
Quarto represents an authorized (but not very well 
printed) edition of the play as Shakespeare had meantime 



xvi Introduction 

thoroughly revised it; and that the differences between 
the First Foh'o and the Second Quarto are in the main 
to be accounted for by supposing that the omissions — 
now in the one, now in the other — represent cuts for 
acting purposes, due to the great length of the play. 
Even to-day the ordinary stage performance of Hamlet 
never includes the full text. 

But after we know how the play has reached us, we 
have still to ask how the story that it tells reached Shake- 
speare. For the great dramatists, whose supreme origi- 
nality lies in giving new form and meaning to what is 
already known, rarely, if ever, invent their own plots, 
and Hamlet offers no exception. The story of the play 
is very old. It appears first about the beginning of the 
thirteenth century, in the History of the Danes by Saxo 
Grammaticus.^ The story, as it is there told, is very 
different from the one we know, four hundred years later, 
in Shakespeare. It is a rude and brutal tale, with ele- 
ments in it that go back to a still more primitive stage of 
civilization. But certain essential facts of the play are 
present in the history. The fratricide on which the drama 
is based ; the marriage between the murderer and Hamlet's 
mother; Hamlet's feigned madness in order to accom- 
plish his revenge; the device (in a very different form, 
however, from that of the play) of using his love for a 
woman in order to lead him to betray himself; the killing 
of an eavesdropper (who has hidden under the rushes 

* Translated (in part) from the Latin in The First Nine Books 
of the Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus, by Oliver Elton 
(Folk Lore Society, 1893), pp. 106-130. 



Hamlet xvli 

on the floor) ; the dispatch of Hamlet to England with 
two companions; the altering of the letter, and Hamlet's 
return (not, however, through the aid of the pirates), — 
all these details are present in the older story. But there 
is no ghost, and Hamlet's savage revenge is wholly differ- 
ent, while he himself lives to become king, and is later 
killed through the treachery of his second wife. Saxo's 
story was retold in French in 1570, in Belief orest's 
Histoires Tragiques} which was not translated into 
English until five years after the First Quarto was pub- 
lished. Shakespeare may possibly have known Belief rest ; 
he almost certainly did not know Saxo. The story seems 
to have reached him in another way. 

At least fifteen of Shakespeare's thirty-seven plays — 
including the Merchant of Venice, King John, Henry V, 
Romeo and Juliet, Julius Casar, and King Lear — are 
more or less directly based upon earlier plays, and no 
clearer insight into Shakespeare's genius and originality 
can be gained than that which comes from a study of 
what he has done with the crude materials at his hand. 
In the case of Hamlet we know, from a number of in- 
teresting contemporary allusions, that there was an earlier 
play, although, unfortunately, it has not come down to 
us. But its author was very probably Thomas Kyd, and 
from an extremely popular play of Kyd's that is extant — 
The Spanish Tragedy — we can guess something of the 
character of the older Hamlet. For both plays — the 
Spanish Tragedy and the earlier Hamlet, which Shake- 

^ Translation in Hazlitt's Shakespeare's Library, Part I, 
Vol. II, pp. 211-379. 



xvlil Introduction 

speare almost certainly used — very evidently appealed 
strongly to one of the marked tastes of an Elizabethan 
audience — its fondness for what is often called the Trag- 
edy of Blood. And if we consider the mere framework 
of Shakespeare's Hamlet, in connection with what we 
know of the Spanish Tragedy, it is not difficult to form 
some idea of the older play. A ghost, insanity, real or 
assumed, revenge, adultery, suicide, poisoning, stabbing — 
all the elements of sheer melodrama are present. And 
the amazing thing that Shakespeare has done is to take 
this old story of blood and lust and revenge, and make it 
the vehicle of his own profoundest thought and his 
supremest artistry, so that it stands as one of the two or 
three greatest tragedies in the world. The mere invent- 
ing of a plot is little; it is what the dramatist does with 
what he finds that counts. 

What he has to do first and foremost is to make a play. 
The Ghost, Hamlet's assumed madness, the killing of 
Polonius, Ophelia's suicide, the exchange of the letters — 
all these are but the raw materials of a drama. They 
must be bound together into a single action, and that 
action must have a definite movement. And such a move- 
ment, in a tragedy, involves a conflict between two oppos- 
ing forces. In Hamlet this conflict takes the form (we 
shall see another side of it in a moment) of a contest 
between Hamlet and the King. The play starts out with 
relative equilibrium; the contest has not yet begun. The 
real movement is initiated when the disclosure of the 
Ghost (the Exciting Force) stirs Hamlet to revenge. 
From that point up to the success of the play within the 



Hamlet xlx 

play the action rises; Hamlet is the aggressor, and the 
King is on the defensive. But with Hamlet's refusal to 
kill the King while he is praying, comes the turning- 
point, and the so-called Falling (or Return) Action be- 
gins; the King is the aggressor, and Hamlet is steadily 
forced to the wall, until, with the success of the King's 
and Laertes's plot against him, the catastrophe ensues. 
One may even indicate by a diagram the typical move- 
ment of a tragedy: 




^VsVtv^^-^^^^^^^^ Climax; 



Turning Point 

l^quilibrium 

Kxciting Force 

The details of the movement in Hamlet are elaborated 
in the introductory notes to the different scenes, and the 
interest of the story is not diminished but enhanced by 
observing the dramatic structure of the play. 

But there is another conflict involved beside the contest 
between the two protagonists. One sometimes hears a 
tragedy spoken of as if it were merely a play with an 
unhappy ending. But the thing that really makes a 
tragedy is — to use a German poet's phrase — the human 
spirit in conflict with itself or with the course of the 
world. In Romeo and Juliet, the first of Shakespeare's 
great tragedies, the conflict is of the latter type. It is 
Fate, as embodied in the family and the state, against 
which Romeo and Juliet — like the heroes of Greek trag- 
edy — contend in vain. But in the later Shakespearean 



XX Introduction 

tragedies, the emphasis is on the conflict of the hero with 
himself — or rather, perhaps, the conflict within him of 
opposing passions or tendencies — that leads to his undoing. 
The great heroes of tragedy — Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, 
Lear, QEdipus, Faust — are exceptional persons, to be 
sure ; but they are the battleground of contending forces 
that are universal in their application and in their appea^ 
And the great tragedies hold their lasting power because 
the tragic struggle is thus universal, as well as because 
it finds embodiment in actions of compelling, sometimes 
of enthralling, interest. The mere story of Hamlet — 
of his contest with the King — thrills even the occupants 
rr the cheapest gallery ; but it is the tragic conflict within 
Hamlet himself that challenges and holds our deeper 
interest. 

And the problem of Hamlet himself is one of the 
most baffling — and fascinating, too — in all literature. He 
is so real a person that men talk and write about him 
as they do about Caesar or Napoleon or any of the great 
complex figures that have really lived. And no attempt 
to pluck out the heart of his mystery will ever be wholly 
successful, just because he is so absolutely real a person. 
But two or three of the most famous attempts to explain 
him may be given, as bringing out, at all events, certain 
phases of his complexity. That of Goethe is perhaps the 
best known of all : ^ 

To me it is clear that Shakespeare meant, in the present case, 
to represent the effects of a great action laid upon a soul unfit 

^Wilhelm Meister's Lehrjahre, Book IV, Chapter XIII (Car- 
lyle's translation). This view is admirably criticised in one 



Descriptive Bibliography xxxi 

Richard III. 

King John. 

Three historical dramas, each dealing with the struggles and 
downfall of an English king. 



II. THE PERIOD OF GREAT HISTORIES AND 
COMEDIES 

The Merchant of Venice. 
The story of two young lovers who are brought together by 
the devotion of a faithful friend, and who in turn save this 
friend from the revenge of Shylock the Jew. 

The Taming of the Shre^w. 

An ingenious farcical comedy, in which a shrewish wife is 
tamed into gentleness. 

King Henry IF, Parts I and II. 

Stately pictures of English civil wars, interspersed with the 
delightful comedy of Falstaff and his companions. 

King Henry V. 

A picture of the English conquests in France, centering around 
Henry V as a national hero. 

Merry Wives of Windsor. 

A laughable series of practical jokes played on Falstaff. 

Much Ado About Nothing. 

As You Like It. 

Tavelfth Night. 
Three romantic comedies of the highest rank. Much Ado 
combines the delightful wit-combats of Beatrice and Benedict 
with the touching story of a lady unjustly accused but finally 
cleared. As You Like It is a picture of pastoral life far from 
the world's uproar in the forest of Arden. Tiuelfth Night 
traces the fortunes of a shipwrecked heroine who by unselfish 
devotion wins a noble lover. 

AlVs Well That Ends Well. 

Troilus and Cressida. 

Measure for Measure. 

Three bitter, sarcastic comedies, revealing the baser aspects of 
human nature. 



xxxii Descriptive Bibliography 



HI. THE PERIOD OF GREAT TRAGEDIES 

Julius Casar. 

A picture of the national upheaval connected with the death 
of Caesar. Its central figure is the noble but misguided patriot 
Brutus. 

Hamlet. 

One of the most thoughtful and poetical of dramas, centering 
around the story of a son called to avenge a murdered father. 

OihellG. 

The tragedy of a noble but passionate man who becomes the 
dupe of a villain, and through mistaken jealousy murders his 
innocent bride. 

King Lear. 

The tragedy of ingratitude. King Lear gives all his lands to 
his two eldest daughters, but their cruelty leads to his death 
and that of his one faithful child Cordelia. 

Macbeth. 

A terrible picture of the retribution which follows ambition 
and murder. Macbeth assassinates his predecessor to become 
king, but is overthrown and dies miserably in the hour of 
defeat. 

Antony and Cleopatra. 

The tragedy of a great soldier who sacrifices an empire for 
love of a fascinating but wicked woman, 

Timon of Athens. 
The tragedy of a noble Athenian who ruins himself by un- 
wise generosity. 

Coriolanus. 

The tragedy of a noble Roman whose brave but unreasonably 
haughty spirit makes him the enemy and desolator of his 
country. 

IV. ROMANTIC TALES OF SHAKESPEARE'S LATER 

YEARS 

Pericles. 

The adventures of a family who are long separated and final- 
ly united. 



Descriptive Bibliography xxxiii 

Cymbeline. 

A Winter's Tale. ' 

Two stories of mistaken jealousy, with frequent threats of 
disaster but with a happy ending. Cymbeline is a story of 
ancient Britain ; the scene of the Winter's Tale is laid in Sic- 
ily and Bohemia. 

The Tempest. 
The story of an exiled duke on an enchanted island. Here he 
brings his enemies within his power and is restored to his 
dukedom. 

King Henry VIII. 

A series of picturesque events in the life of King Henry and 
Cardinal Wolsey. 

Shakespeare's non-dramatic works include: 

Venus and Adonis (1593). 

The Rape of Lucrece (1594). 

Sonnets (1609). 

The Passionate Pilgrim (1599). 
A collection of short poems, containing a few by Shakespeare. 




YARD 



Interior of Fortune Theater 



The Tragedy of Hamlet, 
Prince of Denmark 



DRAMATIS PERSONS 



Claudius, king of Denmark. 

Hamlet, soti to the late, and nephew to the present king, 

PoLONius, lord chamberlain. 

Horatio, friend to Hamlet. 

Laertes, son to Polonius. 

voltimand, "1 

Cornelius, | 

ROSENCRANTZ, ! ^^„^^^-^^^. 

UUILDENSTERN, 

OSRIC, I 

A Gentleman, j 

A Priest. 

Marcellus, ) „./,>.„- 

Bernardo, f oincers. 

Francisco, a soldier. 

Reynaldo, a servant to Polonius. 

Players. 

Two clowns, grave-diggers. 

Fortinbras, prince of Norway. 

A Captain. 

English Ambassadors. 

Gertrude, queen of Denmark, and mother to Hamlet. 
Ophelia, daughter to Polonius. ' 

Lords, Ladies, Officers, Soldiers, Sailors, Messengers, and other 

Attendants. 

Ghost of Hamlet's Father. 

Scene: Denmark. 



\\ 11 ' 



The Tragedy of Hamlet, 
Prince of Denmark 

ACT FIRST 

Scene I 
Elsinore. A platform before the castle. 

Francisco at his post. Enter to him Bernardo. 

Ber. Who's there? 

Fran. Nay, answer me: stand, and unfold yourself. 

Ber. Long live the king! 

Fran. Bernardo? 

Ber. He. 

Fran. You come most carefully upon your hour. 

Ber. 'Tis now struck twelve; get thee to bed, Francisco. 

Fran. For this relief much thanks: 'tis bitter cold, 
And I am sick at heart. 

Ber. Have you had quiet guard? 

Fran. Not a mouse stirring. lO 

Ber. Well, good night. 

If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus, 
The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste. 

Fran. 1 think I hear them. Stand, ho! Who's there? 

3 



4 Hamlet [Act I. 

Enter Horatio and Marcellus. 

Hor. Friends to this ground. 

Mar. And liegemen to the Dane. 

Fran. Give you good night. 

Mar. O, farewell, honest soldier: 

Who hath relieved you? 

Fran. Bernardo hath my place. 

Give you good night. [Exit. 

Mar. Holla! Bernardo! 

Ber. Say, 

What, is Horatio there? 

Hor. A piece of him. 

Ber. Welcome, Horatio; welcome, good Marcellus. 20 

Mar. What, has this thing appear'd again to-night? 

Ber. I have seen nothing. 

Mar. Horatio says 'tis but our fantasy. 

And will not let belief take hold of him 
Touching this dreaded sight, twice seen of us: 
Therefore I have entreated him along 
With us to watch the minutes of this night. 
That if again this apparition come. 
He may approve our eyes and speak to it. 

Hor. Tush, tush, 'twill not appear. 

Ber. Sit down a while ; 30 

And let us once again assail your ears. 
That are so fortified against our story. 
What we have two nights seen. 

Hor. Well, sit we down, 

And let us hear Bernardo speak of this. 



Scene!.] Hamlet 5 

Ber. Last night of all, 

When yond same star that's westward from the pole 
Had made his course to illume that part of heaven 
Where now it burns, Marcellus and myself. 
The bell then beating one, — 

Enter Ghost. 

Mar. Peace, break thee off; look, where it comes again! 
Ber. In the same figure, like the king that's dead. 41 

Mar. Thou art a scholar; speak to it, Horatio. 
Ber. Looks it not like the king? mark it, Horatio. 
Hor. Most like: it harrows me with fear and wonder. 
Ber. It would be spoke to. 
Mar. Question it, Horatio. 

Hor. What art thou, that usurp'st this time of night, 

Together with that fair and warlike forrri 

In which the majesty of buried Denmark 

Did sometimes march? by heaven I charge thee, 
speak ! 
Mar. It is offended. 

Ber. See, it stalks away! 50 

Hor. Stay! speak, speak! I charge thee, speak! 

[Exit Ghost. 
Mar. 'Tis gone, and will not answer. 
Ber. How now, Horatio! you tremble and look pale: 

Is not this something more than fantasy? 

What think you on't? 
Hor. Before my God, I might not this believe 

Without the sensible and true avouch 

Of mine own eyes. 



6 Hamlet [ActI. 

Mar. Is it not like the king? 

Hor, As thou art to thyself: 

Such was the very armor he had on 6o 

When he the ambitious Norway combated; 
So frown'd he once, when, in an angry parle, 
He smote the sledded Polacks on the ice. 
'Tis strange. 

Mar. Thus twice before, and jump at this dead hour. 
With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch. 

Hor. In what particular thought to work I know not; 
But, in the gross and scope of my opinion, 
This bodes some strange eruption to our state. 

Mar. Good now, sit down, and tell me, he that knows, 
Why this same strict and most observant watch 71 
So nightly toils the subject of the land, 
And why such daily cast of brazen cannon, 
And foreign mart for implements of war; 
Why such impress of shipwrights, whose sore task 
Does not divide the Sunday from the week; 
What might be toward, that this sweaty haste 
Doth make the night joint-laborer with the day: 
Who is't that can inform me? 

Hor. That can I; 

At least the whisper goes so. Our last king, 80 

Whose image even but now appear'd to us. 
Was, as you know, by Fortinbras of Norway, 
Thereto prick'd on by a most emulate pride. 
Dared to the combat ; in which our valiant Hamlet — 
For so this side of our known world esteem'd 
him — 



Scene I.] Hamlet ' 7 

Did slay this Fortinbras; who by a seal'd com- 
pact, 
Weirratified by law and heraldry, 
Did forfeit, with his life, all those his lands 
Which he stood seized of, to the conqueror: 
Against the which, a moiety competent go 

Was gaged by our king; which had return'd 
To the inheritance of Fortinbras, 
Had he been vanquisher ; as, by the same covenant, 
And carriage of the article design'd. 
His fell to Hamlet. Now, sir, young Fortinbras, 
Of unimproved mettle hot and full. 
Hath in the skirts of Norway here and there 
Shark'd up a list of lawless resolutes. 
For food and diet, to some enterprise 
That hath a stomach in't: which is no other — lOO 
As it doth well appear unto our state — 
But to recover of us, by strong hand 
And terms compulsatory, those foresaid lands 
So by his father lost: and this, I take it, 
Is the main motive of our preparations, 
The source of this our watch and the chief head 
Of this post-haste and romage in the land. 

Ber. I think it be no other but e'en so: 

Well may it sort that this portentous figure 
Comes armed through our watch, so like the king 
That was and is the question of these wars. ill 

Hor. A mote it is to trouble the mind's eye. 

In the most high and palmy state of Rome, 
A 'little ere the mightiest Julius fell, 



8 Hamlet [ActI. 

The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead 
Did squeak and gibber In the Roman streets: 

J As stars with trains of fire and dews of blood, 
Disasters in the sun; and the moist star, 
Upon whose Influence Neptune's empire stands, 
Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse: I20 

And even the like precurse of fierce events, 
As harbingers preceding still the fates 
And prologue to the omen coming on. 
Have heaven and earth together demonstrated 
Unto our cllmatures and countrymen. 

Re-enter Ghost. 

But soft, behold! lo, where it comes again! 
I'll cross It, though It blast me. Stay, illusion ! 
If thou hast any sound, or use of voice. 
Speak to me: 

If there be any good thing to be done, 130 

That may to thee do ease and grace to me, 
Speak to me: 

If thou art privy to thy country's fate, 
Which^ happily, foreknowing may avoid, 
O, speak! 

Or if thou hast uphoarded in thy life 
Extorted treasure In the womb of earth. 
For which, they say, you spirits oft walk in death. 
Speak of it: stay, and speak! [The cock crozvs.^ 

Stop it, Marcellus. 
Mar. Shall I strike at it with my partisan? 140 



Scene!.] Hamlet 9 

Hor. Do, if ft will not stand. 

Ber. 'Tis here! 

Hor. 'Tis here! 

%Mar. 'Tis gone! {Exit Ghost. 

We do it wrong, being so majestical. 
To offer it the show of violence; 
For it is, as the air, invulnerable. 
And our vain blows malicious mockery. 

Ber. It was about to speak, when the cock crew. 

Hor. And then it started like a guilty thing 
Upon a fearful summons. I have heard. 
The cock, that is the trumpet to the morn, 150 

Doth with his lofty and shrill-sounding throat ^ 
Awake the god of day; and, at his warning. 
Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air. 
The extravagant and erring spirit hies 
To his confine: and of the truth herein 
This present object made probation. 

Mar. It faded on the crowing of the cock. 

Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes 
Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated. 
The bird of dawning singeth all night long: 160 

And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad. 
The nights are wholesome; tben no planets strike, 
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm, 
So hallow'd and so gracious is the time. 

Hor. So have I heard and do in part believe it. 

But look, the morn, in russet mantle clad, )j^ 

Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastward hill: 
Break we our watch up ; and by my advice. 



10 Hamlet [Act I. 

Let us impart what we have seen to-night 
Unto young Hamlet; for, upon my life, 170 

This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him: 
Do you consent we shall acquaint him with it, 
As needful in our loves, fitting our duty? 
Mar. Let's do't, I pray; and I this morning know 
Where we shall find him most conveniently. 

[Exeunt. 

Scene II 

A room of state in the castle. 

Flourish. Enter the King, Queen, Hamlet, Polonius, 
LaertEs, Voltimand, Cornelius, Lords, and 
Attendants. 

King. Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother's death 
The memory be green, and that it us befitted 
To' bear our hearts in grief and our whole kingdom 
To be contracted in one brow of woe. 
Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature 
That we with wisest sorrow think on him, 
Together with remembrance of ourselves. 
Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen, 
The imperial jointress to this warlike state, 
/Have we, as 'twere with a defeated joy, — 10 

\With an auspicious and a dropping eye. 
With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage, 
In equal scale weighing delight and dole, — 
Taken to wife: nor have we herein barr'd 



Scene II.] Hamlet II 

Your better wisdoms, which have freely gone 

With this affair along. For all, our thanks. 

Now follows, that you know, young Fortinbras, 

Holding a weak supposal of our worth, 

Or thinking by our late dear brother's death 

Our state to be disjoint and out of frame, 20 

Colleagued with the dream of his advantage, 

He hath not fail'd to pester us with message, 

Importing the surrender of those lands 

Lost by his father, with all bonds of law. 

To our most valiant brother. So much for him. 

Now for ourself and for this time of meeting: 

Thus much the business is : we have here writ 

To Norway, uncle of young Fortinbras, — 

Who, impotent and bed-rid, scarcely hears 

Of this his nephew's purpose, — to suppress 30 

His further gait herein; in that the levies. 

The lists and full proportions, are all made 

Out of his subject: and we here dispatch 

You, good Cornelius, and you, Voltimand, 

For bearers of this greeting to old Norway ; 

Giving to you no further personal power 

To business with the king, more than the scope 

Of these delated articles allow. 

Farewell, and let your haste commend your duty. 

„ / V In that and all things will we show our duty. 40 
yoi. \ 

King. We doubt it nothing: heartily farewell. 

[^Exeunt Voltimand and Cornelius. 

And now, Laertes, what's the news with you? 



1 2 Hamlet [Act I. 

You told us of some suit; what is't, Laertes? 
You cannot speak of reason to the Dane, 
And lose your voice : what wouldst thou beg, Laertes, 
That shall not be my offer, not thy asking? 
The head is not more native to the heart. 
The hand more instrumental to the mouth. 
Than is the throne of Denmark to thy father. 
What wouldst thou have, Laertes ? 

Laer. My dread lord, 50 

Your leave and favor to return to France; 
From whence though willingly I came to Denmark, 
To show my duty in your coronation. 
Yet now, I must confess, that duty done. 
My thoughts and wishes bend again toward France 
And bow them to your gracious leave and pardon. 

King. Have you your father's leave ? What says Polonius ? 

Pol. He hath, my lord, wrung from me my slow leave 
By laborsome petition, and at last 
Upon his will I seal'd my hard consent: 60 

I do beseech you, give him leave to go. 

King. Take thy fair hour, Laertes; time be thine. 
And thy best graces spend it at thy will! 
But now, my cousin Hamlet, and my son, — 

Ham. [Aside] A little more than kin, and less than kind. 

King. How is it that the clouds still hang on you? 

Ham. Not so, my lord ; I am too much i' the sun. 
\ Queen. Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted color off, 

And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark. 
Do not for ever with thy vailed lids 70 

Seek for thy noble father in the dust: 



Scene II.] Hamlet 1 3 

Thou know'st 'tis common ; all thar lives must die, 
Passing through nature to eternity. 

Ham. Ay, madam, it is common. 
\ Queen. If it be, 

Why seems it so particular with thee? 

Ham. Seems, madam ! nay, it is ; I know not ' seems.' 
'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, -- '' 
Nor customary suits of solemn black, 
Nor windy suspiration of forced breath. 
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, 80 

Nor the dejected havior of the visage, 
Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief, 
That can denote me truly: these indeed seem. 
For they are actions that a man might play : 
But I have that within which passeth show; 
These but the trappings and the suits of woe. 

King. 'Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, 
Hamlet, 
To give these mourning duties to your father: 
But, you must know, your father lost a father; 
That father lost, lost his, and the survivor bound 90 
In filial obligation for some term 
To do obsequious sorrow: but to persevere 
In obstinate condolement is a course 
Of impious stubbornness; 'tis unmanly grief; 
It shows a will most incorrect to heaven, 
A heart unfortified, a mind impatient, 
An understanding simple and unschool'd: 
For what we know must be and is as common 
As, any the most vulgar thing to sense, 



14 Hamlet [Act I. 

Why should we in our peevish opposition lOO 

Take it to heart? Fie! 'tis a fault to heaven, 
A fault against the dead, a fault to nature, 
To reason most absurd, w^hose common theme 
Is death of fathers, and w^ho still hath cried. 
From the first corse till he that died to-day, 
* This must be so.' We pray you, throw to earth 
This unprevailing woe, and think of us 
As of a father: for let the world take note, 
You are the most immediate to our throne, 
And with no less nobility of love iio 

Than that which dearest father bears his son, 
Do I impart toward you. For your intent 
In going back to school in Wittenberg, 
It is most retrograde to our desire: 
And we beseech you, bend you to remain 
Here in the cheer and comfort of our eye, 
Our chiefest courtier, cousin and our son. 
\ Queen. Let not thy mother lose her prayers, Hamlet: 
I pray thee, stay with us; go not to Wittenberg. 

Ham. I shall in all my best obey you, madam. , I20 

King. Why, 'tis a loving and a fair reply: 

Be as ourself in Denmark. Madam, come; 
This gentle and unforced accord of Hamlet 
Sits smiling to my heart : in- grace whereof, 
No jocund health that Denmark drinks to-day. 
But the great cannon to the clouds shall tell, 
And the king's rouse the heaven shall bruit again. 
Re-speaking earthly thunder. Come away. 

[Flourish. Exeunt all but Hamlet. 



Scene II.] Hamlet I^ 

Ham. O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, 

Thaw and resolve itself into a dew! 130 

. Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd 
His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! God! 
How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, 
Seem to me all the uses of this world! 
Fie on't ! ah fie ! 'tis an unweeded garden. 
That grows to seed; things rank and gross m 

nature 
Possess it merely. That it should come to this ! 
But two months dead ! nay, not so much, not two : 
So excellent a king; that was, to this, 
Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother 140 
That he might not beteem the winds of heaven 
Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth! 
Must I remember? why, she would hang on him, 
As if increase of appetite had grown 
By what it fed on: and yet, within a month — 
Let me not think on't — Frailty, thy name, is '■/ 

woman ! — 
A little month, or ere those shoes were old 
With which she follow'd my poor father's body, 
Like Niobe, all tears: — why she, even she, — 
O God! a beast, that wants discourse of reason, 150 
Would have mourn'd longer, — married with my uncle. 
My father's brother, but no more like my father 
Than I to Hercules: within a month. 
Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears 
Had left the flushing in her galled eyes, 
She married. O, most wicked speed, to post 



1 6 Hamlet [ActI. 

With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! 

It is not, nor it cannot come to good: 

But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue ! 

Enter Horatio, Marcellus, and Bernardo. 

Hor. Hail to your lordship! 

Ham. I am glad to see you well: i6o 

Horatio, — or I do forget myself. 
Hor. The same, my lord, and your poor servant ever. 
Ham. Sir, my good friend; I'll change that name with 
you: 

And what make you from Wittenberg, Horatio? 

Marcellus ? 
Mar. My good lord — 

Ham. I am very glad to see you. \_To Ber.~\ Good 
even, sir. 

But what, in faith, make you from Wittenberg? 
Hor. A truant disposition, good my lord. 
Ham. I would not hear your enemy say so, 170 

Nor shall you do my ear that violence, 

To make it truster of your own report 

Against yourself: I know j^ou are no truant. 

But what is your affair in Elsinore? 

We'll teach you to drink deep ere you depart. 
Hor. My lord, I came to see your father's funeral. 
Ham. I pray thee, do not mock me, fellow-student; 

I think it was to see my mother's wedding. 
Hor. Indeed, my lord, it follow'd hard upon. 
Ham. Thrift, thrift, Horatio! the funeral baked-meats 

Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables. 181 



Scene II.] Hamlet 1 7 

Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven 
Or ever I had seen that day, Horatio! 
My father! — methinks I see my father. 

Hor. O whtrt, my lord ? 

Ham. In my mind's eye, Horatio. 

Hor. I saw him once ; he w^as a goodly king. 

Ham. He was a man, take him for all in all, 
I shall not look upon his like again. 

Hor. My lord, I think I saw him yesternight. 

Ham. Saw? who? 190 

Hor. My lord, the king your father. 

Ham. The king my father ! 

Hor. Season your admiration for a while. 
With an attent ear, till I may deliver. 
Upon the witness of these gentlemen. 
This marvel to you. 

Ham. For God's love, let me hear. 

Hor. Two nights together had these gentlemen, 
Marcellus and Bernardo, on their watch. 
In the dead vast and middle of the night, 
Been thus encounter'd. A figure like your father. 
Armed at point exactly, cap-a-pe, 200 

Appears before them, and with solemn march 
Goes slow and stately by them : thrice he walk'd 
By their oppress'd and fear-surprised eyes. 
Within his truncheon's length; whilst they, distill'd 
Almost to jelly with the act of fear. 
Stand dumb, and speak not to him. This to me 
In dreadful secrecy impart they did; 
And I with them the third night kept the watch: 



1 8 Hamlet [Act I. 

Where, as they had deliver'd, both in time, 
Form of the thing, each word made true and good, 
The apparition comes: I knew your father; 211 

These hands are not more like. 

Ham. But where was this? 

Mar. My lord, upon the platform where we watch'd. 

Ham. Did you not speak to it? 

Hor. My lord, I did. 

But answer made it none: yet once methought 
It lifted up it head and did address 
Itself to motion, like as it would speak: 
But even then the morning cock crew loud, 
And at the sound it shrunk in haste away 
And vanish'd from our sight. 

Ham. 'Tis very strange. 220 

Hor. As I do live, my honor'd lord, 'tis true. 

And we did think it writ down in our duty 
To let you know of it. 

Ham. Indeed, indeed, sirs, but this troubles me. 
Hold you the watch to-night ? 

„ * I We do, my lord. 

Ber. \ 

Ham. Arm'd, say you? 

Mar. ) A >j 1 J 

„ V Arm d, my lord. 

Ber. \ 

Ham. From top to toe? 

-, ' V My lord, from head to foot. 
Ber. j 

Ham. Then saw you not his face? 

Hor. O, yes, my lord ; he wore his beaver up. 230 



Scene II.] Hamlet 19 

Ham. What, look'd he frowningly? 

Hor. A countenance more In sorrow than in anger. 

Ham. Pale or red? 

Hor. Nay, very pale. 

Ham. And fix'd his eyes upon you? 

Hor. Most constantly. 

Ham. I would I had been there. 

Hor. It would have much amazed you. 

Ham. Very like, very like. Stay'd it long? 

Hor. While one with moderate haste might tell a hundred. 

Mar. ) 

I Longer, longer. 
Ber. \ 

Hor. Not when I saw't. 

Ham. His beard was grizzled, — no? 240 

Hor. It was, as I have seen it in his life, 
A sable silver'd. 

Ham. I will w^atch to-night; 

Perchance 'twill walk again. 

Hor. I warrant it will. 

Ham. If it assume my noble father's person, 

I'll speak to it, though hell itself should gape 

And bid me hold my peace. I pray you all, 

If you have hitherto conceal'd this sight. 

Let it be tenable in your silence still; 

And whatsoever else shall hap to-night. 

Give it an understanding, but no tongue: 250 

I will requite your loves. So fare you well: 

Upon the platform, 'twixt eleven and twelve, 

I'll visit you. 

All. , Our duty to your honor. 



20 Hamlet [Act I. 

Ham. Your loves, as mine to you: farewell. 

[Exeunt all but Hamlet. 
My father's spirit in arms! all is not well; 
I doubt some foul play: would the night were come! 
V Till then sit still, my soul: foul deeds will rise. 

Though all the earth o'erwhelm them, to men's eyes. 

[Exit. 

Scene III 
A room in Polonius^s house. 

Enter Laertes and Ophelia. 

Laer. My necessaries are embark'd: farewell: 
And, sister, as the winds give benefit 
And convoy is assistant, do not sleep, 
But let me hear from you. 

Oph. Do you doubt that? 

Laer. For Hamlet and the trifling of his favor, 
Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood, 
A violet in the youth of primy nature, 
Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting. 
The perfume and suppliance of a minute; 
No more. 

Oph. No more but so? 

Laer. Think it no more: lO 

For nature crescent does not grow alone 
In thews and bulk, but, as this temple waxes. 
The inward service of the mind and soul 
Grows wide withal. Perhaps he loves you now, 



Scene III.] Hamlet 21 

And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch 

The virtue of his will: but you must fear, 

His greatness weigh'd, his will is not his own; 

For he himself is subject to his birth: 

He may not, as unvalued persons do, 

Carve for himself, for on his choice depends 20 

The safety and health of this whole state ; 

And therefore must his choice be circumscribed 

Unto the voice and yielding of that body 

Whereof he is the head. Then if he says he loves you. 

It fits your wisdom so far to believe it 

As he in his particular act and place 

May give his saying deed ; which is no further 

Than the main voice of Denmark goes withal. 

Then weigh what loss your honor may sustain, 

If with too credent ear you list his songs, 30 

Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open 

To his unmaster'd importunity. 

Fear it, Ophelia, fear it, my dear sister, 

And keep you in the rear of your affection, 

Out of the shot and danger of desire. 

The chariest maid is prodigal enough, 

If she unmask her beauty to the moon: 

Virtue itself 'scapes not calumnious strokes: 

The canker galls the infants of the spring 

Too oft before their buttons be disclosed, 40 

And in the morn and liquid dew of youth 

Contagious blastments are most imminent. 

Be wary then; best safety lies in fear: 

Youth to itself rebels, though none else near. 



2 2 Hamlet [Act I. 

Oph. I shall the effect of this good lesson keep, 

As watchman to my heart. But, good my brother, 
Do not, as some ungracious pastors do. 
Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven, 
Whiles, like a puff'd and reckless libertine. 
Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads, 50 
And recks not his own rede. 

Laer. O, fear me not. 

I stay too long: but here my father comes. 

Enter POLONIUS. 

A double blessing is a double grace; 
Occasion smiles upon a second leave. 

Pol. Yet here, Laertes! Aboard, aboard, for shame! 
The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail. 
And you are stay'd for. There; my blessing with 

thee ! 
And these few precepts in thy memory 
See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue. 
Nor any unproportion'd thought his act. 60 

Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar. 
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, 

^ Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel; 
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment 
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade. Beware 
Of entrance to a quarrel; but being in, 
Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee. 
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice ; 
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment. 



Scene III.] Hamlet 23 

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, 70 

But not express'd In fancy ; rich, not gaudy ; 
For the apparel oft proclaims the man, -^ 
And they in France of the best rank and station 
Are of a most select and generous chief in that. 
Neither a borrower nor a lender be: 
For loan oft loses both J[tself and friend, 
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. 
/ This above all: to thine own self be true, \ 
! And it must follow, as the night the day, 
V Thou canst not then be false to any man. 80 

Farewell: my blessing season this In thee! 

Laer. Most humbly do I take my leave, my lord. 

Pol. The time invites you; go, your servants tend. 

Laer. Farewell, Ophelia, and remember well 
What I have said to you. 

Oph. 'TIs in my memory lock'd. 

And you yourself shall keep the key of it. 

Laer. Farewell. [^Exit. 

Pol. What is't, Ophelia, he hath said to you? 

Oph. So please you, something touching the Lord Hamlet. 

Pol. Marry, well bethought: 90 

'TIs told me, he hath very oft of late 
Given private time to you, and you yourself 
Have of your audience been most free and bounteous: 
If it be so — as so 'tis put on me. 
And that in way of caution — I must tell you, 
You do not understand yourself so clearly 
As It behoves my daughter and your honor. 
What Is between you ? give me up the truth. 



24 Hamlet [Act I. 

Oph. He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders 

Of his affection to me. lOO 

Pol. Affection! pooh! you speak like a green girl, 
Unsifted in such perilous circumstance. 
Do you believe his tenders, as you call them? 

Oph. I do not know, my lord, what I should think. 

Pol. Marry, I'll teach you: think yourself a baby, 
That you have ta'en these tenders for true pay. 
Which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly ; 
Or — not to crack the wind of the poor phrase, 
Running it thus — you'll tender me a fool. 

Oph. My lord, he hath importuned me with love no 
In honorable fashion. 

Pol. Ay, fashion you may call it; go to, go to. 

Oph. And hath given countenance to his speech, my lord, 
With almost all the holy vows of heaven. 

Pol. Ay, springes to catch woodcocks. I do know, 
When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul 
Lends the tongue vows: these blazes, daughter, 
Giving more light than heat, extinct in both. 
Even in their promise, as it is a-making. 
You must not take for fire. From this time 120 

Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence; 
Set your entreatments at a higher rate 
Than a command to parley. For Lord Hamlet, 
Believe so much in him, that he is young. 
And with a larger tether may he walk 
Than may be given you : in few, Ophelia, 
Do not believe his vows; for they are brokers, 
Not of that dye which their investments show, 



Scene IV.] Hamlet 25 

But mere implorators of unholy suits, 
Breathing like sanctified and pious bawds, 130 

The better to beguile. This is for all: 
I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth, 
Have you so slander any moment leisure. 
As to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet. 
Look to't, I charge you : come your ways. 
Oph. I shall obey, my lord. \_Exeunt. 



Scene IV 
The platform. I 

Enter Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus. 

Ham. The air bites shrewdly; it is very cold. 
Hor, It is a nipping and an eager air. 
Ham. What hour now? 

Hor. I think it lacks of twelve. 

Mar. No, it is struck. 

Hor. Indeed? I heard it not: then it draws near the 
season 

Wherein the spirit held his wont to walk. 

[J flourish of trumpets, and ordnance shot off within. 

What doth this mean, my lord? 
Ham. The king doth wake to-night and takes his rouse, 

Keeps wassail, and the swaggering up-spring reels; 

And, as he drains his draughts of Rhenish down, 10 

The kettle-drum and trumpet thus bray out 

The triumph of his pledge. 
Hor. > Is it a custom ? 



26 Hamlet [Act I. 

Ham. Ay, marry, is't: 

But to my mind, though I am native here 

And to the manner born, it is a custom 

More honor'd in the breach than the observance. 

This heavy-headed revel east and west 

Makes us traduc'd and tax'd of other nations : 

They clepe us drunkards, and with swinish phrase 

Soil our addition ; and indeed it takes ^ 20 

From our achievements, though perform'd at height, 

The pith and marrow of our attribute. 

So, oft it chances in particular men. 

That for some vicious mole of nature in them. 

As, in their birth, — wherein they are not guilty, 

Since nature cannot choose his origin, — 

By the o'ergrowth of some complexion. 

Oft breaking down the pales and forts of reason. 

Or by some habit that too much o'er-leavens 

The form of plausive manners, that these men, 30 

Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect, 

Being nature's livery, or fortune's star, — 

Their virtues else — be they as pure as grace, 

As infinite as man may undergo — 

Shall in the general censure take corruption 

From that particular fault: the dram of eale 

Doth all the noble substance of a doubt 

To his own scandal. 

Enter Ghost. 

Hor. Look, my lord, it comes! 

Ham. Angels and ministers of grace defend us! 



Scene IV.] Hamlet 27 

Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn'd, 40 

Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from 

hell, 
Be thy intents wicked or charitable, 
Thou comest in such a questionable shape 
That I will speak to thee: I'll call thee Hamlet, 
King, father, royal Dane: O, answer me! 
Let me not burst in ignorance; but tell 
Why thy canonized bones, hearsed in death, 
Have burst their cerements; why the sepulcher, 
Wherein we saw thee quietly inurn'd, 
Hath oped his ponderous and marble jaws, 50 

To cast thee up again. What may this mean. 
That thou, dead corse, again in complete steel, 
Revisit'st thus the glimpses of the moon. 
Making night hideous; and we fools of nature 
So horridly to shake our disposition 
With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls? 
Say, why is this? wherefore? what should we do? 

[Ghost beckons Hamlet. 

Hor. It beckons you to go away with it, 
As if it some impartment did desire 
To you alone. 

Mar. Look, with what courteous action 60 

It waves you to a more removed ground : 
But do not go with it. 

Hor. No, by no means. 

Ham. It will not speak ; then I will follow it. 

Hor. Do not, my lord. 

Ham, ' Why, what should be the fear? 



28 Hamlet [ActI. 

I do not set my life at a pin's fee ; 

And for my soul, what can it do to that, 

Being a thing immortal as itself? 

It waves me forth again: I'll follow it. 

Hor. What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord. 
Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff 70 

That beetles o'er his base into the sea, 
And there assume some other horrible form. 
Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason 
And draw you into madness? think of it: 
The very place puts toys of desperation, 
Without more motive, into every brain 
That looks so many fathoms to the sea 
And hears it roar beneath. 

Ham. It waves me still. 

Go on ; I'll follow thee. 

Mar. You shall not go, my lord. 

Ham. Hold of¥ your hands. 80 

Hor. Be ruled ; you shall not go. 

Hatn. My fate cries out, 

And makes each petty artery in this body 
As hardy as the Nemean lion's nerve. 
Still am I call'd. Unhand me, gentlemen. 
By heaven, I'll make a ghost of him that lets me! 
I say, away! Go on; I'll follow thee. 

[Exeunt Ghost and Hamlet. 

Hor. He waxes desperate with imagination. 

Mar. Let's follow ; 'tis not fit thus to obey him. 

Hor. Have after. To what issue will this come? 
r Mar. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. X 90 



Scene v.] Hamlet 29 

Hor. Heaven will direct it. 

Mar. Nay, let's follow him. 

[^Exeunt. 

Scene V 

Another part of the platform. 

Enter Ghost and Hamlet. 

Ham. Whither wilt thou lead me? speak; I'll go no 
further. 

Ghost. Mark me. 

Ham. I will. 

Ghost. My hour is almost come, 

When I to sulphurous and tormenting flames 
Must render up myself. 

Ham. Alas, poor ghost ! 

Ghost. Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing 
To what I shall unfold. 

Ham. Speak ; I am bound to hear. 

Ghost. So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear. 

Ham. What? 

Ghost. I am thy father's spirit, 

Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night, lO 

And for the day confined to fast in fires. 

Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature 

Are burnt and purged away. But that I am forbid 

To tell the secrets of my prison-house, 

I could a tale unfold whose lightest word 

Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, 

Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres. 



30 Hamlet [ActI. 

Thy knotted and combined locks to part 

And each particular hair to stand an end, 

Like quills upon the fretful porpentine: 20 

But this eternal blazon must not be 

To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O, list ! 

If thou didst ever thy dear father love — 

Ham. O God! 

Ghost. Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. '" 

Ham. Murder! 

Ghost. Murder most foul, as in the best it is. 
But this most foul, strange, and unnatural. 

Ham. Haste me to know't, that I, v^^ith wings as swift 
As meditation or the thoughts of love, 30 

May sweep to my revenge. 

Ghost. , I find thee apt; 

And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed 

That roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf, 

Wouldst thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear: 

'Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard, 

A serpent stung me ; so the whole ear of Denmark 

Is by a forged process of my death 

Rankly abused: but know, thou noble youth, 

The serpent that did sting thy father's life 

Now wears his crown. 

Ham. O my prophetic soul ! 40 

My uncle! 

Ghost. Ay, that incest-uous, that adulterate beast. 

With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts, — 
O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power 
So to seduce! — ^won to his shameful lust 



Scene V.] Hamlet 3 1 

The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen : 

Hamlet, what a falling-off was there! 
From me, whose love was of that dignity 
That it went hand in hand even with the vow 

1 made to her in marriage, and to decline 50 
Upon a wretch, whose natural gifts were poor 

To those of mine! 

But virtue, as it never will be moved. 

Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven, 

So lust, though to a radiant angel link'd, 

Will sate itself in a celestial bed 

And prey on garbage. 

But, soft! methinks I scent the morning air; 

Brief let me be. Sleeping within my orchard, 

My custom always of the afternoon, 60 

Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, 

With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial, 

And in the porches of my ears did pour 

The leperous distilment; whose effect 

Holds such an enmity with blood of man 

That swift as quicksilver it courses through 

The natural gates and alleys of the body, 

And with a sudden vigor it doth posset 

And curd, like eager droppings into milk. 

The thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine; 70 

And a most instant tetter bark'd about, 

Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust. 

All my smooth body. 

Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand 

Of life, of crown, of queen, at once dispatch'd: 



32 Hamlet [ActI. 

Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin, 
Unhousel'd, disappointed, unaneled, 
No reckoning made, but sent to my account 
With all my imperfections on my head: 
O, horrible! O, horrible! most horrible! 8o 

If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not; 
Let not the royal bed of Denmark be 
A couch for luxury and damned incest. 
But, howsoever thou pursuest this act, 
' Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive 
Against thy mother aught: leave her to heaven 
And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge, 
To prick and sting her. Fare thee v^ell at once ! 
The glow-v\^orm shows the matin to be near, 
And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire : 90 

Adieu, adieu! Hamlet, remember me. [Exit. 

Ham. O all you host of heaven! O earth! what else? 
And shall I couple hell ? 0,fie! Hold, hold, my heart; 
And you, my sinews, grow not instant old, 
But bear me stiffly up. Remember thee! 
Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat 
In this distracted globe. Remember thee! 
Yea, from the table of my memory 
I'll wipe away all trivial fond records. 
All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past, lOO 
That youth and observation copied there; 
And thy commandment all alone shall live 
Within the book and volume of my brain, 
Unmix'd with baser matter: yes, by heaven! 
O most pernicious woman ! 



Scene v.] Hamlet 33 

villain, villain, smiling, damned villain! 
My tables, — meet it is I set it down, 

That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain ; 
At least I'm sure it may be so in Denmark. 

[ Writing. 
So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word; no *4"^ 
It is ' Adieu, adieu ! remember me.' 

1 have sworn't. 

Hor ] ^ 

71^ Y \ Within'] My lord, my lord! 

Mar. \ 

Mar. [Within] Lord Hamlet! 

Hor. [Within] Heaven secure him! 

Ham. So be it! 

Mar. [Within] Illo, ho, ho, my lord! \ 

Ham. Hillo, ho, ho, boy! come, bird, come. 

Enter Horatio and Marcellus. 

Mar. How is't, my noble lord? 

Hor. What news, my lord? 

Ham. O, wonderful! 
Hor. Good my lord, tell it. 
Ham. No; you'll reveal it. 

Hor. Not I, my lord, by heaven. 

Mar. Nor I, my lord. I20 

Ham. How say you, then; would heart of man once 
think it? 
But you'll be secret? 

n/f ' \ , Ay, by heaven, my lord. 



34 Hamlet [Act I. 

Ham. There's ne'er a villain dwelling in all Denmark 
But he's an arrant knave. 

Hor. There needs no ghost, mj^ lord, come from the grave 
To tell us this. 

Ham. Why, right; you are i' the right; 

And so, without more circumstance at all, 
I hold it fit that we shake hands and part: 
You, as your business and desire shall point you ; 
For every man hath business and desire, 130 

Such as it is ; and for my own poor part, 
Look you, ril go pray. 

Hor. These are but wild and whirling words, my lord. 

Ham. I'm sorry they offend you, heartily; 
Yes, faith, heartily. 
. Hor, There's no offence, my lord. 

Ham. Yes, by Saint Patrick, but there is, Horatio, 

And much offence too. Touching this vision here, 
It is an honest ghost, that let me tell you: 
For your desire to know what is between us, 
O'ermaster't as you may. And now, good friends, 
As you are friends, scholars and soldiers, 141 

Give me one poor request. "^ 

Hor. What is't, my lord? we will. 

Ham. Never make known what you have seen to-night. 

- _ * V My lord, we will not. 
Mar. j ^ 

Ham. Nay, but swear't. 

Hor. In faith, 

My lord, not I. 

Mar, Nor I, my lord, in faith. 



Scene v.] Hamlet 35 

Ham. Upon my sword. 

Mar. We have sworn, my lord, already. 

Ham. Indeed, upon my sword, indeed. 

Ghost. [Beneath^ Swear. 

Ham. Ah, ha, boy! say'st thou so? art thou there, true- 
penny? 150 
Come on: you hear this fellow in the cellarage: 
Consent to swear. 

Hor. Propose the oath, my lord. 

Ham. Never to speak of this that you have seen. 
Swear by my sword. 

Ghost. [Beneath^ Swear. 

Ham. Hie et ubique? then we'll shift our ground. 
Come hither, gentlemen. 
And lay your hands again upon my sword: 
Never to speak of this that you have heard, 
Swear by my sword. 160 

Ghost. [Beneath^ Swear. 

Ham. Well said, old mole! canst work i' the earth 
so fast? 
A worthy pioner! Once more remove, good friends. 

Hor. O day and night, but this is wondrous strange ! 

Ham. And therefore as a stranger give it welcome. 

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, 

Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. 

But come; 

Here, as before, never, so help you mercy. 

How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself, 170 

As I perchance hereafter shall think meet 

TTo -put an antic disposition on. 



36 Hamlet [Act I. 

That you, at such times seeing me, never shall, 
With arms encumber'd thus, or this head-shake, 
Or by pronouncing -of some doubtful phrase, 
As ' Well, well, we know,' or ' We could, an if 

we would,' 
Or ' If we list to speak,' or ' There be, an if they 

might,' 
Or such ambiguous giving out, to note 
That you know aught of me: this not to do, 
So grace and mercy at your most need help you, 180 
Swear. 

Ghost. [Beneath~\ Swear. 

Ham. Rest, rest, perturbed spirit! [They swear.^ So, 
gentlemen. 
With all my love I do commend me to you: 
And what so poor a man as Hamlet is 
May do, to express his love and friending to you, 
God willing, shall not lack. Let us go in together; 
And still your fingers on your lips, I pray. 
The time is out of joint: O cursed spite, 
That ever I was born to set it right! 190 

Nay, come, let's go together. [Exeunt. 



Scene!.] Hamlet 37 

ACT SECOND 

Scene I 
A room in Polonius^s house. 

Enter Polonius and Reynaldo. 

Pol. Give him this money and these notes, Reynaldo. 

Rey. I will, my lord. 

Pol. You shall do marvelous w^isely, good Reynaldo, 
Before you visit him, to make inquire 
Of his behavior. 

Rey. My lord, I did intend it. 

Pol. Marry, well said, very well said. Look you, sir, 
Inquire me first what Danskers are in Paris, 
And how, and who, what means, and where they 

keep. 
What company, at what expense ; and finding 
By this encompassment and drift of question lO 

That they do know my son, come you more nearer 
Than your particular demands will touch it: 
Take you, as 'twere, some distant knowledge of him, 
As thus, ' I know his father and his friends. 
And in part him ' : do you mark this, Reynaldo ? 

Rey. Ay, very well, my lord. 

Pol. ' And in part him ; but,' you may say, ' not well : 
But if 't be he I mean, he's very wild, 
Addicted so and so ' ; and there put on him 
What forgeries you please; marry, none so rank 20 



38 Hamlet [ActII. 

As may dishonor him ; take heed of that ; 
But, sir, such wanton, wild and usual slips 
As are companions noted and most known 
To youth and liberty. 

Rey. As gaming, my lord. 

Pol. Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing, quarreling, 
Drabbing: you may go so far. 

Rey. My lord, that would dishonor him. 

Pol. Faith, no; as you may season it in the charge. 
You must not put another scandal on him, 
That he is open to incontinency ; 30 

That's not my meaning: but breathe his faults so 

quaintly 
That they may seem the taints of liberty, 
The flash and outbreak of a fiery mind, 
A savageness in unreclaimed blood. 
Of general assault. 

Rey. But, my good lord, — 

Pol. Wherefore should you do this ? 

Rey. Ay, my lord, 

I would know that. 

Pol. Marry, sir, here's my drift, 

And, I believe, it is a fetch of warrant: 
You laying these slight sullies on my son. 
As 'twere a thing a little soil'd i' the working, 40 
Mark you, 

Your party in converse, him you would sound, 
Having ever seen in the prenominate crimes 
The youth you breathe of guilty, be assured 
He closes with you in this consequence; 



Scene!.] Hamlet 39 

* Good sir,' or so, or ' friend,' or ' gentleman,' 
According to the phrase or the addition 

Of man and countrj^ 
Rey. Very good, my lord. 

Pol. And then, sir, does he this — he does^ — what 

was I about to say? By the mass, I was about 50 

to say something: where did I leave? 
Rey. At ' closes in the consequence,' at ' friend or 

so,' and 'gentleman.' 
Pol. At * closes in the consequence,' ay, marry ; 

He closes with you thus: ' I know the gentleman; 

I saw him yesterday, or t'other day. 

Or then, or then, with such, or such ; and, as you say, 

There was a' gaming; there o'ertook in's rouse; 

There falling out at tennis ' : or perchance, 

* I saw him enter such a house of sale ' 60 
Videlicet, a brothel, or so forth. 

See you now; 

Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth : 

And thus do we of wisdom and of reach. 

With windlasses and with assays of bias. 

By indirections find directions out: 

So by my former lecture and advice. 

Shall you my son. You have me, have you not? 

Rey. My lord, I have. 

Pol. God be wi' you ; fare you well. 

Rey. Good my lord! 70 

Pol. Observe his inclination in yourself. 

Rey. I shall, my lord. 
• Pol. And let him ply his music. 



40 Hamlet [Act II. 

Rey. Well, my lord. 

Pol, Farewell! [Exit Reynaldo. 

Enter Ophelia. 

How now, Ophelia! what's the matter? 

Oph. O, my lord, my lord, I have been so affrighted ! 

Pol. With what, i' the name of God ? 

Oph. My lord, as I was sewing in my closet. 

Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbraced, 

No hat upon his head, his stockings foul'd, 

Ungarter'd and down-gyved to his ancle ; 8o 

Pale as his shirt, his knees knocking each other, 

And with a look so piteous in purport 

As if he had been loosed out of hell 

To speak of horrors, — he comes before me. 

Pol. Mad for thy love ? 

Dph. My lord, I do not know, 

But truly I do fear it. 

Pol. What said he? 

Oph. He took me by the wrist and held me hard ; 
Then goes he to the length of all his arm, 
And, with his other hand thus o'er his brow. 
He falls to such perusal of my face 90 

As he would draw it. Long stay'd he so; 
At last, a little shaking of mine arm, 
And thrice his head thus waving up and down, 
He raised a sigh so piteous and profound 
As it did seem to shatter all his bulk 
And end his being: that done, he lets me go: 
And, with his head over his shoulder turn'd. 



Scene!.] Hamlet 4 1 

He seem'd to find his way without his eyes ; 

For out o' doors he went without their helps, 

And, to the last, bended their light on me. lOO 

Pol. Come, go with me : I will go seek the king. 
This is the very ecstasy of love, 
Whose violent property fordoes itself 
And leads the will to desperate undertakings 
As oft as any passion under heaven 
That does afflict our natures. I am sorry. 
What, have you given him any hard words of late? 

Oph. No, my good lord, but, as you did command, 
I did repel his letters and denied 
His access to me. 

Pol. That hath made him mad. no 

I am sorry that with better heed and judgment 
I had not quoted him : I f ear'd he did but trifle 
Arid meant to wreck thee; but beshrew my jealousy! 
By heaven, it is as proper to our age 
To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions 
As it is common for the younger sort 
To lack discretion. Come, go we to the king: 
This must be known; which, being kept close, 

might move 
More grief to hide than hate to utter love. 
Come. [^Exeunt. 



42 Hamlet [Act 11. 

Scene II ^ 
A room in the castle. 
Flourish. Enter King, Queen, Rosencrantz, 

GUILDENSTERN, and ATTENDANTS. 

King. Welcome, dear Rosencrantz and Guildenstern ! 
Moreover that we much did long to see you, 
The need we have to use you did provoke 
Our hasty sending. Something have you heard 
Of Hamlet's transformation; so call it, 
Sith nor the exterior nor the inward man 
Resembles that it was. What it should be, 
More than his father's death, that thus hath put him 
So much from the understanding of himself, 
I cannot dream of: I entreat you both, lO 

That, being of so young days brought up with him 
And sith so neighbor'd to his youth and havior. 
That you vouchsafe your rest here in our court 
Some little time : so by your companies 
To draw him on to pleasures, and to gather 
So much as from occasion you may glean, 
Whether aught, to us unknown, afflicts him thus. 
That, open'd, lies within our remedy. 
\ Queen. Good gentlemen, he hath much talk'd of you ; 

And sure I am two men there are not living 20 

To whom he more adheres. If it will please you 
To show us so much gentry and good will 
As to expend your time with us a while 



Scene II.] Hamlet 43 

For the supply and profit of our hope, 
Your visitation shall receive such thanks 
. As fits a king's remembrance. 

Ros. Both your majesties 

Might, by the sovereign power you have of us. 
Put your dread pleasures more into command ^ 

Than to entreaty. 

Guil. But we both obey, 

And here give up ourselves, in the full bent 30 

To lay our service freely at your feet, 
To be commanded. 

King. Thanks, Rosencrantz and gentle Guildenstern. 
\ Queen. Thanks, Guildenstern and gentle Rosencrantz: 
And I beseech you instantly to visit 
My too much changed son. Go, some of you, 
And bring these gentlemen where Hamlet is. 

Guil. Heavens make our presence and our practices 
Pleasant and helpful to him ! 
Y Queen. Ay, amen! 

\_Exeunt Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and some Attendants. 

Enter Polonius. 

Pol. The ambassadors from Norway, my good lord, 40 
Are joyfully return'd. 

King. Thou still hast been the father of good news. 

Pol. Have I, my lord? I assure my good liege, 
I hold my duty as I hold my soul, 
Both to my God and to my gracious king: 
And I do think, or else this brain of mine 
Hunts not the trail of policy so sure 



44 Hamlet [Act II. 

As it hath used to do, that I have found 

The very cause of Hamlet's lunacy. 
King. O, speak of that ; that do I long to hear. 50 

Pol. Give first admittance to the ambassadors ; 

My news shall be the fruit to that great feast. 
Jiing. Thyself do grace to them, and bring them in. 

[Exit Polonius. 

He tells me, my dear Gertrude, he hath found 

The head and source of all your son's distemper. • 
Queen. I doubt it is no other but the main; 

His father's death and our o'erhasty marriage. 
King. Well, we shall sift him. 

Re-enter PoLONius^ with Voltimand and Cornelius. 

Welcome, my good friends! 
Say, Voltimand, what from our brother Norway? 
Volt. Most fair return of greetings and desires. 60 

Upon our first, he sent out to suppress 
His nephew's levies, which to him appear'd 
To be a preparation 'gainst the Polack, 
But better look'd into, he truly found 
It was against your highness: whereat grieved, 
That so his sickness, age and impotence 
Was falsely borne in hand, sends out arrests 
On Fortinbras; which he, in brief, obeys. 
Receives rebuke from Norway, and in fine 
Makes vow before his uncle never more 70 

To give the assay of arms against your majesty. 
Whereon old Norway, overcome with joy. 
Gives him three thousand crowns in annual fee, 



Scene II.] Hamlet 45 

And his commission to employ those soldiers, 
So levied as before, against the Polack: 
With an entreaty, herein further shown, 

[Giving a paper. 
That it might please you to give quiet pass 
Through your dom.inions for this enterprise. 
On such regards of safety and allowance 
As therein are set down. 

King. It likes us well; 80 

And at our more consider'd time we'll read. 
Answer, and think upon this business. 
Meantime we thank you for your well-took labor : 
Go to your rest; at night we'll feast together: 
Most welcome home ! 

[Exeunt Voltimand and Cornelius. 

Pol. This business is well ended. 

My liege, and madam, to expostulate 
What majesty should be, what duty is. 
Why day is day, night night, and time is time. 
Were nothing but to waste night, day and time. 
Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit 90 

And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, 
I will be brief. Your noble son is mad: 
Mad call I it ; for, to define true madness. 
What is't but to be nothing else but mad ? 
But let that go. 

Queen. More matter, with less art. 

Pol. Madam, I swear I use no art at all. 

That he is mad, 'tis true : 'tis true 'tis pity, 
And' pity 'tis 'tis true: a foolish figure; 



46 Hamlet [Act II. 

But farewell it, for I will use no art. 

Mad let us grant him then: and now remains 100 

That we find out the cause of this effect, 

Or rather say, the cause of this defect, 

For this effect defective comes by cause: 

Thus it remains and the remainder thus. 

Perpend. 

I have a daughter, — have while she is mine, — 

Who, in her duty and obedience, mark, 

Hath given me this: now gather, and surmise. 

[Reads. 

* To the celestial and my soul's idol, the most 
beautified Ophelia,' — no 
That's an ill phrase, a vile phrase ; ' beautified ' 

is a vile phrase; but you shall hear. Thus: 

[Reads. 

* In her excellent white bosom, these,' &c. 
Queen. Came this from Hamlet to her? 

Pol. Good madam, stay awhile; I will be faithful. 

' Doubt thou the stars are fire ; 
Doubt that the sun doth move; 
Doubt truth to be a liar; 
But never doubt I love. 

*0 dear Ophelia, I am ill at these numbers; I 120 
have not art to reckon my groans: but that I 
love thee best, O most best, believe it. Adieu. 
' Thine evermore, most dear lady, whilst this 
machine is to him, Hamlet.' 

This in obedience hath my daughter shown me ; 



Scene IL] Hamlet 47 

And more above, hath his solicitings, 

As they fell out by time, by means and place, 

All given to mine ear. 

King. But how hath she 

Received his love ? 

PoL What do you think of me ? 

King. As of a man faithful and honorable. 130 

Pol. I w^ould fain prove so. But w^hat might you think, 
When I had seen this hot love on the wing, — 
As I perceived it, I must tell you that, 
Before my daughter told me, — what might you. 
Or my dear majesty your queen here, think, 
If I had play'd the desk or table-book. 
Or given my heart a winking, mute and dumb, 
Or look'd upon this love with idle sight; 
What might you think? No, I went round to work. 
And my young mistress thus I did bespeak: 140 

* Lord Hamlet is a prince, out of thy star; 
This must not be ' : and then I prescripts gave her, 
That she should lock herself from his resort. 
Admit no messengers, receive no tokens. 
Which done, she took the fruits of my advice ; 
And he repulsed — a short tale to make — 
Fell into a sadness, then into a fast, 
Thence to a watch, thence into a weakness. 
Thence to a lightness, and by this declension 
Into the madness wherein now he raves 150 

And all we mourn for. 

King. Do you think 'tis this? 

Queen. It may be, very likely. 



48 Hamlet [Act II. 

Pol. Hath there been such a time — I'd fain know that — ■ 

That I have positively said ' 'TIs so,' 

When it proved otherwise? 
King. Not that I know. 

Pol. {^Pointing to his head and shoulder^ Take this from 
this, If this be otherwise: 

If circumstances lead me, I will find 

Where truth is hid, though it were hid Indeed 

Within the center. 
King. How may we try it further ? 

Pol. You know, sometimes he walks four hours together 

Here In the lobby. 
Queen. So he does Indeed. i6l 

\ Pol. At such a time I'll loose my daughter to him: 

Be you and I behind an arras then ; 

Mark the encounter: if he love her not 

And be not from his reason fall'n thereon, 

Let me be no assistant for a state, 

But keep a farm and carters. 
King. We will try it. 

Queen. But look where sadly the poor wretch comes 

reading. 
Pol. Away, I do beseech you, both away : 

I'll board him presently. 169 

^Exeunt King, Queen, and Attendants. 

Enter Hamlet^ reading. 

O, give me leave: 
How does my good Lord Hamlet? 
Ham. Well, God-a-mercy. 



Scene II.] Hamlet 49 

Pol. Do you know me, my lord ? 

Ham. Excellent well; you are a fishmonger. 

Pol. Not I, my lord. 

Ham. Then I would you were so honest a man. 

Pol. Honest, my lord! 

Ham. Ay, sir; to be honest, as this world goes, is 
to be one man picked out of ten thousand. 

Pol. That's very true, my lord. i8o 

Ham. For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog, 
being a god kissing carrion, — Have you a 
daughter ? 

Pol. I have, my lord. 

Harn. Let her not walk i' the sun: conception is a 
blessing ; but not as your daughter may conceive. 
Friend, look to't. 

Pol. lAside~\ How say you by that? Still harping 
on my daughter: yet he knew me not at first; 
he said I was a fishmonger: he is far gone, far 190 
gone : and truly in my youth I suffered much ex- 
tremity for love; very near this. Fll speak 
to him again. — What do you read, my lord? 

Ham. Words, words, words. 

Pol. What is the matter, my lord? 

Ham. Between who ? 

Pol. I mean, the matter that you read, my lord. 

Ham. Slanders, sir: for the satirical rogue says here 
that old men have grey beards, that their faces 
are wrinkled, their eyes purging thick amber 200 
and plum-tree gum, and that they have a plenti- 
ful lack of wit, together with most weak hams: 



50 Hamlet [Act II. 

all which, sir, though I most powerfully and po- 
tently believe, )^et I hold it not honesty to have 
it thus set down ; for yourself, sir, should be old 
as I am, if like a crab you could go backward. 

Pol. IJside^ Though this be madness, yet there is 
method in't. — ^Will you walk out of the air, 
my lord? 

Ham. Into my grave. 2iO 

Pol. Indeed, that is out of the air. [Aside] How 
pregnant sometimes his replies are! a happiness 
that often madness hits on, which reason and 
sanity could not so prosperously be delivered 
of. I will leave him, and suddenly contrive 
the means of meeting between him and my 
daughter. — My honorable lord, I will most 
humbly take my leave of you. 

Ham. You cannot, sir, take from me any thing that 

I will more willingly part withal: except my 220 
life, except my life, except my life. 

Pol. Fare you well, my lord. 

Ham. These tedious old fools! 

Re-enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 

Pol. You go to seek the Lord Hamlet; there he is. 

Ros. [To Polonius] God save you, sir! [Exit Polonius. 

Guil. My honored lord ! 

Ros. My most dear lord! 

Ham. My excellent good friends! How dost thou, 
Guildenstern? Ah, Rosencrantz! Good lads, 
how do you both? 230 



Scene IL] Hamlet 5 1 

Ros. As the indifferent children of the earth. 
Guil. Happy, in that we are not over-happy; 

On Fortune's cap we are not the very button. 
Ham. Nor the soles of her shoe? 
Ros. Neither, my lord. 
Ham. Then you live about her waist, or in the middle 

of her favors? What's the news? 240 

Ros. None, my lord, but that the world's grown 

honest. 
Ham. Then is doomsday near: but your news is 

not true. Let me question more in particular: 

what have you, my good friends, deserved at 

the hands of Fortune, that she sends you to 

prison hither? 
Guil. Prison, my lord! 
Ham. Denmark's a prison. 

Ros. Then is the world one. 250 

Ham. A goodly one; in which there are many con- 
fines, wards and dungeons, Denmark being one 

o' the worst. 
Ros. We think not so, my lord. 
Ham. Why, then, 'tis none to you; for there is 

nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes 

it so: to me it is a prison. 
Ros. Why, then, your ambition makes it one; 'tis 

too narrow for your mind. 
Ham. O God, I could be bounded in a nut-shell and 260 

count myself a king of infinite space, were it 

not that I have bad dreams. 
Guil. W'hich dreams indeed are ambition; for the 



52 Hamlet [ActII. 

very substance of the ambitious is merely the 

shadow of a dream. 
Ham. A dream itself is but a shadow. 
Ros. Truly, and I hold ambition of so airy and light 

a quality that it is but a shadow's shadow. 
Ham. Then are our beggars bodies, and our monarchs 

and outstretched heroes the beggars' shadows. 270 

Shall we to the court? for, by my fay, I cannot 

reason. 

Ros. ) ,,^ ,,, 

^ V We 11 wait upon you. 

Ham. No such matter: I will not sort you with the 
rest of my servants, for, to speak to you like 
an honest man, I am most dreadfully attended. 
But, in the beaten way of friendship, what make 
you at Elsinore? 

Ros. To visit you, my lord ; no other occasion. 

Ham. Beggar that I am, I am even poor in thanks; 280 
but I thank you: and sure, dear friends, my 
thanks are too dear a halfpenny. Were you 
not sent for? Is it your own inclining? Is it 
a free visitation? Come, deal justly with me: 
come, come; nay, speak. 

Guil. What should we say, my lord? 

Ham. Why, anything, but to the purpose. You 
were sent for; and there is a kind of confession 
in your looks which your modesties have not 
craft enough to color: I know the good king 290 
and queen have sent for you. 

Ros. To what end, my lord? 



Scene II.] Hamlet 53 

Ham. That you must teach me. But let me conjure 
you, by the rights of our fellowship, by the con- 
sonancy of our youth, by the obligation of our 
ever-preserved love, and by what more dear a 
better proposer could charge you withal, be 
even and direct with me, whether you were 
sent for, or no? 

Ros. [Aside to GuiL] What say you? 300 

Ham. [Aside^ Nay, then, I have an eye of you. — 
If you love me, hold not off. , 

Guil. My lord, we were sent for. 

Ham. I will tell you why; so shall my anticipation 
prevent your discovery, and your secrecy to the 
king and queen moult no feather. I have of late 
— but wherefore I know not — lost all my mirth, 
forgone all custom of exercises; and indeed it 
goes so heavily with my disposition that this 
goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile 310 
promontory; this most excellent canopy, the air, 
look you, this brave o'erhanging firmament, this 
majestical roof fretted with golden fire, why, it 
appears no other thing to me than a foul and 
pestilent congregation of vapors. What a piece 
of work is a man! how noble in reason! how 
infinite in faculty! in form and moving how 
express and admirable! in action how like an 
angel! in apprehension how like a god! the 
beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! 320 
And, yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? 



54 Hamlet [ActII. 

man delights not me; no, nor woman neither, 
though by your smiling you seem to say so. 

Ros. My lord, there was no such stuff In my 
thoughts. 

Ham. Why did you laugh then, when I said ' man 
delights not me ' ? 

Ros. To think, my lord, If you delight not In man, 
what lenten entertainment the players shall 
receive from you: we coted them on the way; 330 
and hither are they coming, to offer you service. 

Ham. He that plays the king shall be welcome; 
his majesty shall have tribute of me; the adven- 
turous knight shall use his foil and target; the 
lover shall not sigh gratis; the humorous man 
shall end his part In peace; the clown shall 
make those laugh whose lungs are tickle o' the 
sere; and the lady shall say her mind freely, or 
the blank verse shall halt for't. What players 
are they? 340 

Ros. Even those you were wont to take such delight 
In, the tragedians of the city. 

Ham. How chances It they travel? their residence, 
both In reputation and profit, was better both 
ways. 

Ros. I think their Inhibition comes by the means 
of the late innovation. 

Ham. Do they hold the same estimation they 
did when I was in the city? are they so 
followed ? 350 

Ros. No, indeed, are they not. 



Scene IL] Hamlet 55 

Ham. How comes it? do they grow rusty? 

Ros. Nay, their endeavor keeps in the wonted pace: 
but there is, sir, an aery of children, little 
eyases, that cry out on the top of question, and 
are most tyrannically clapped for't: these are 
now the fashion, and so berattle the common 
stages — so they call them — that many wearing 
rapiers are afraid of goose-quills and dare 
scarce come thither. 360 

Ham. What, are they children? who maintains 'em? 
how are they escoted? Will they pursue the 
quality no longer than they can sing? will they 
not say afterwards, if they should grow them- 
selves to common players, — as it is most like, 
if their means are no better, — their writers 
do them wrong, to make them exclaim against 
their own succession? 

Ros. Faith, there has been much to do on both sides, 

and the nation holds it no sin to tarre them 370 
to controversy: there was for a while no money 
bid for argument unless the poet and the player 
went to cuffs in the question. 

Ham. Is't possible? 

Guil. O, there has been much throwing about of 
brains. 

Ham. Do the boys carry it away? 

Ros. Ay, that they do, my lord; Hercules and his 
load too. 

Ham. It is not very strange; for my uncle is king 38Q 
of Denmark, and those that would maks mows 



56 Hamlet [ActII. 

at him while my father lived, give tw^enty, forty, 
fifty, an hundred ducats a-piece for his picture 
in little. 'Sblood, there is something in this 
more than natural, if philosophy could find it out. 

\^Flourish of trumpets within. 

Guil. There are the players. 

Ham. Gentlemen, you are welcome to Elsinore. 
Your hands, come then: the appurtenance of 
welcome is fashion and ceremony: let me 
comply with you in this garb, lest my extent to 390 
the players, which, I tell )/ou, must show fairly 
outward, should more appear like entertainment 
than yours. You are welcome: but my uncle- 
father and aunt-mother are deceived. 

Guil. In what, my dear lord? 

Ham. I am but mad north-north-west: when the 
wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw. 

Re-enter PoLONlus. 

Pol. Well be with 5^ou, gentlemen ! 

Ham. Hark you, Guildenstern ; and you too: 

at each ear a hearer: that great baby you see 400 

there is not yet out of his swaddling-clouts. 
Ros. Happily he's the second time come to 

them; for they say an old man is twice a 

child. 
Ham. I will prophesy he comes to tell me of the 

players; mark it. You say right, sir: o' 

Monday morning; 'twas so, indeed. 
Pol. My lord, I have news to tell you. 



Scene IL] Hamlet 57 

Ham. My lord, I have news to tell you. When 

Rosclus was an actor in Rome, — 410 

Pol, The actors are come hither, my lord. 

Ham. Buz, buz! 

Pol. Upon mine honor, — 

Ham. Then came each actor on his ass, — 

Pol. The best actors in the world, either for 
tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral- 
comical, historical-pastoral, tragical-historical, 
tragical-comical-historical-pastoral, scene indi- 
vidable, or poem unlimited: Seneca cannot be 
too heavy, nor Plautus too light. For the law 420 
of writ and the liberty, these are the only men. 

Ham. O Jephthah, judge of Israel, what a treasure 
hadst thou! 

Pol. What a treasure had he, my lord? 

Ham. Why, 

' One fair daughter, and no more. 

The which he loved passing well.' 

Pol. [Aside] Still on my daughter. 

Ham. Am I not i' the right, old Jephthah? 

Pol. If you call me Jephthah, my lord, I have a 430 

daughter that I love passing well. 
Ham. Nay, that follows not. 
Pol. What follows, then, my lord? 
Ham. Why, 

' As by lot, God wot,' 

and then, you know, 
'' It came to pass, as most like it was,' — 



58 Hamlet [Act II. 

the first row of the pious chanson will show you 
more; for look, where my abridgment comes. 

Enter four or five Players. 

You are welcome, masters; welcome, all. I am 440 
glad to see thee well. Welcome, good friends. 
O, my old friend! Thy face is valanced 
since I saw thee last; comest thou to beard me 
in Denmark? What, my young lady and mis- 
tress! By'r lady, your ladyship is nearer to 
heaven than when I saw you last, by the altitude 
of a chopine. Pray God, your voice, like a piece 
of uncurrent gold, be not cracked within the ring. 
Masters, you are all welcome. We'll e'en to't 
like French falconers, fly at any thing we see: 450 
we'll have a speech straight: come, give us a 
taste of your quality; come, a passionate speech. 

First Play. What speech, my lord ? 

Ham. I heard thee speak me a speech once, but it 
was never acted; or, if it was, not above once; 
for the play, I remember, pleased not the mil- 
lion; 'twas caviare to the general: but it was 
- — as I received it, and others, whose judg- 
ments in such matters cried in the top of mine — 
an excellent play, well digested in the scenes, set 460 
down with as much modesty as cunning. I re- 
member, one said there were no sallets in the lines 
to make the matter savory, nor no matter in the 
phrase that might indict the author of affecta- 



Scene II.] Hamlet 59 

tlqn ; but called it an honest method, as whole- 
some as sweet, and by very much more handsome 
than fine. One speech in it I chiefly loved : 'twas 
i^neas' tale to Dido ; and thereabout of it espe- 
cially, where he speaks of Priam's slaughter: if 
it live in your memory, begin at this line; let 470 
me see, let me see ; 

' The rugged Pyrrhus, like the Hyrcanian beast,' — 
It is not so : — it begins with ' Pyrrhus ' : — 
* The rugged Pyrrhus, he whose sable arms. 
Black as his purpose, did the night resemble 
When he lay couched in the ominous horse. 
Hath now this dread and black complexion smear'd 
With heraldry more dismal: head to foot 
Now is he total gules; horridly trick'd 479 

With blood of fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, 
Baked and impasted with the parching streets, 
That lend a tyrannous and damned light 
To their lord's murder: roasted in wrath and fire. 
And thus o'er-sized with coagulate gore. 
With eyes like carbuncles, the hellish Pyrrhus 
Old grandsire Priam seeks.' 
So, proceed you. 

Pol. 'Fore God, my lord, well spoken, with good 
accent and good discretion. 

First Play. ' Anon he finds him 490 

Striking too short at Greeks; his antique sword, 
Rebellious to his arm, lies where it falls, 
Repugnant to command: unequal match'd, 
Pyrrhus at Priam drives ; in rage strikes wide ; 



6o Hamlet [Act II. 

But with the whiff and wind of his fell sword 
The unnerved father falls. Then senseless Ilium, 
Seeming to feel this blow, with flaming top 
Stoops to his base, and with a hideous crash 
Takes prisoner Pyrrhus' ear : for, lo ! his sword. 
Which w^as declining on the milky head 500 

Of reverend Priam, seem'd i' the air to stick: 
So, as a painted tyrant, Pyrrhus stood, 
And like a neutral to his will and matter, 
Did nothing. 

But, as we often see, against some storm, 
A silence in the heavens, the rack stand still. 
The bold winds speechless and the orb below 
As hush as death, anon the dreadful thunder 
Doth rend the region, so, after Pyrrhus' pause. 
Aroused vengeance sets him new a-work; 510 

And never did the Cyclops' hammers fall 
On Mars's armor forged for proof eterne 
With less remorse than Pyrrhus' bleeding sword 
Now falls on Priam. 

Out, out, thou strumpet. Fortune ! All you gods. 
In general synod take away her power; 
Break all the spokes and fellies from her wheel. 
And bowl the round nave down the hill of heaven 
As low as to the fiends ! ' 
Pol. This is too long. 520 

Ham. It shall to the barber's, with your beard. 

Prithee, say on: he's for a jig or a tale of 
bawdry, or he sleeps: say on: come to Hecuba. 



Scene II.] Hamlet 6 1 

First Play. ' But who, O, who had seen the 
mobled queen — ' 

Ham. ' The mobled queen ' ? 

Pol. That's good ; ' mobled queen ' is good. 

First Play. ' Run barefoot up and down, threatening the 
flames 
With bisson rheum; a clout upon that head 
Where late the diadem stood, and for a robe, 530 
About her lank and all o'er-teemed loins, 
A blanket, in the alarm of fear caught up : 
Who this had seen, with tongue in venom steep'd, 
'Gainst Fortune's state would treason have pronounced : 
But if the gods themselves did see her then. 
When she saw Pyrrhus make malicious sport 
In mincing with his sword her husband's limbs. 
The instant burst of clamor that she made. 
Unless things mortal move them not at all, 
Would have made milch the burning eyes of heaven, 
And passion in the gods.' 54 1 

Pol. Look, whether he has not turned his color 
and has tears in's eyes. Prithee, no 
more. 

Ham. 'Tis well; I'll have thee speak out the rest 
of this soon. Good my lord, will you see 
the players'" well bestowed? Do you hear, let 
them be well used, for they are the abstract and 
brief chronicles of the time: after your death 
you were better have a bad epitaph than their 550 
ill report while you live. 



62 Hamlet [ActII. 

Pol. My lord, I will use them according to their 
desert. 

Ham. God's bodykins, man, much better: use 
every man after his desert, and who shall 'scape 
whipping? Use them after your own honor 
and dignity: the less they deserve, the more 
merit is in your bounty. Take them in. 

Pol. Come, sirs. 

Ham. Follow him, friends: we'll hear a play to- 560 
morrow. {^Exit Polonius with all the Players 
but the First.~\ Dost thou hear me, old friend; 
can you play the Murder of Gonzago? 

First Play. Ay, my lord. 

Ham. We'll ha't to-morrow night. You could, 
for a need, study a speech of some dozen or 
sixteen lines, which I would set down and in- 
sert in't, could you not? 

First Play. Ay, my lord. 

Ham. Very well. Follow that lord; and look you 570 
mock him not. [Exit First Player.^ My 
good friends, Fll leave you till night: you 
are welcome to Elsinore. 

Ros. Good my lord! 

Ham. Ay, so, God be wi' ye! [Exeunt Rosencrantz 

„*» and Guild enstern.^ Now I am alone. 

^ O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I! 
Is it not monstrous that this player here. 
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion. 
Could force his soul so to his own conceit 
That from her working all his visage wann'd; 580 



Scene II.] Hamlet 63 

Tears in his eyes, distraction in's aspect, 

A broken voice, and his whole function suiting 

With forms to his conceit? and all for nothing! 

For Hecuba! 

What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, 

That he should weep for her? What would he do. 

Had he the motive and the cue for passion 

That I have? He would drown the stage with tears 

And cleave the general ear with horrid speech, 

Make mad the guilty and appall the free, 590 

Confound the Ignorant, and amaze indeed 

The very faculties of eyes and ears. 

Yet I, 

A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak, ^ - 

Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause, 

And can say nothing; no, not for a king. 

Upon whose property and most dear life 

A damn'd defeat was made. Am I a coward ? 

Who calls me villain ? breaks my pate across ? 

Plucks off my beard, and blows it In my face? 600 

Tweaks me by the nose? gives me the lie I' the 

throat. 
As deep as to the lungs? who does me this? 
Ha! 

'Swounds, I should take It: for it cannot be 
But I am pigeon-llver'd and lack gall 
To make oppression bitter, or ere this 
I should have fatted all the region kites \/ 

With this slave's offal: bloody, bawdy villain! 
Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain! 



64 Hamlet [ActII. 

O, vengeance! 610 

Why, what an ass am I ! This is most brave, 

That I, the son of a dear father murder'd, 

Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, 

Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words, 

And fall a-cursing, like a very drab, 

A scullion! 

Fie upon't! fob! About, my brain! I have heard 

That guilty creatures sitting at a play, 

Have by the very cunning of the scene 

Been struck so to the soul that presently 620 

They have proclaim'd their malefactions; 

For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak 

With most miraculous organ. Fll have these players 

Play something like the murder of my father 

Before mine uncle : Fll observe his looks ; 

Fll tent him to the quick: if he but blench, 

I know my course. The spirit that I have seen 

May be the devil; and the devil hath power 

To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps 

Out of my weakness and my melancholy, 630 

As he is very potent with such spirits. 

Abuses me to damn me. Fll have grounds 

More relative than this. The play's the thing 

Wherein Fll catch the conscience of the king. 

[Exit. 



Scene!.] Hamlet 65 

ACT THIRD 

Scene I 

A room in the castle. 

Enter King, Queen, Polonius, Ophelia, 

ROSENCRANTZ, and GUILDENSTERN. 

King. And can you, by no drift of circumstance. 
Get from him why he puts on this confusion, 
Grating so harshly all his days of quiet 
With turbulent and dangerous lunacy? 

Ros. He does confess he feels himself distracted; 
But from what cause he will by no means speak. 

Guil. Nor do we find him forward to be sounded. 
But, with a crafty madness, keeps aloof, 
When we would bring him on to some confession 
Of his true state. 
\ Queen. Did he receive you well? 10 

Ros. Most like a gentleman. 

Guil. But with much forcing of his disposition. 

Ros. Niggard of question; but, of our demands, 
Most free in his reply. 
N Queen. Did you assay him 

To any pastime ? 

Ros. Madam, it so fell out, that certain players 

We o'er-raught on the way : of these we told him, 
And there did seem in him a kind of joy 
To hear of it: they are about the court, 



66 Hamlet [Act III. 

And, as I think, they have already order 20 

This night to play before him.- 

Pol. 'Tis most true: 

And he beseech'd me to entreat your majesties 
To hear and see the matter. 

Kin£[. With all my heart; and it doth much content 
me 
To hear him so inclined. 
Good gentlemen, give him a further edge, 
And drive his purpose on to these delights. 

Ros. We shall, my lord. 

[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 

King. Sweet Gertrude, leave us too; 

For we have closely sent for Hamlet hither, 
That he, as 'twere by accident, may here 30 

Affront Ophelia: 

Her father and myself, lawful espials, 
Will so bestow ourselves that, seeing unseen, 
We may of their encounter frankly judge. 
And gather by him, as he is behaved, 
H't be the affliction of his love or no 
That thus he suffers for. 
A^ Queen. I shall obey you. 

And for your part, Ophelia, I do wish , 
That your good beauties be the happy cause 
Of Hamlet's wildness: so shall I hope your virtues 
Will bring him to his wonted way again, 41 

To both your honors. 

Oph. Madam, I wish it may. [Exit Queen. 

Pol. Ophelia, walk you here. Gracious, so please you, 



Scene!.] Hamlet 67 

We will bestow ourselves. \_To Ophelia.^ Read on 

thf s book ; 
That show of such an exercise may color 
Your loneliness. We are oft to blame in this, — 
'Tis too much proved — that with devotion's visage 
And pious action we do sugar o'er 
The devil himself. 
King. [Aside} O, 'tis too true ! 

How smart a lash that speech doth give my con- 
science ! 50 
' The harlot's cheek, beautied with plastering art. 
Is not more ugly to the thing that helps it 
Than is my deed to my most painted word : 
O heavy burthen ! 
Pol. I hear him coming: let's withdraw, my lord. 

[Exeunt King and Polonius. 

Enter Hamlet. 

Ham. To be, or not to be: that is the question: 
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer 
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, 
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles. 
And by opposing end them. To die: to sleep; 60 
No more ; and by a sleep to say we end 
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks 
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation 
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; 
To sleep : perchance to dream : ay, there's the rub ; 
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, 
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil. 



68 Hamlet [Act III. 

Must give us pause: there's the respect 

That makes calamity of so long life ; 69 

For who would bear the whips and scorns bf 

time, 
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely. 
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay, 
. The insolence of office, and the spurns 
That patient merit of the unworthy takes, 
When he himself might his quietus make 
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear, 
To grunt and sweat under a weary life. 
But that the dread of something after death. 
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn 
No traveler returns, puzzles the will 80 

And makes us rather bear those ills we have 
Than fly to others that we know not of? 
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all ; 
And thus the native hue of resolution 
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought. 
And enterprises of great pitch and moment 
With this regard their current turn awry. 
And lose the name of action. — Soft you now! 
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons 
Be all my sins remember'd. 

Oph. Good my lord, 90 

How does your honor for this many a day?- 

Ham. I humbly thank you: well, well, well. 

Oph. My lord, I have remembrances of yours. 
That I have longed long to re-deliver; 
I pray you, now receive them. 



Scene I.] Hamlet 69 

Ham. No, not I; 

I never gave you aught. 

Oph. My honor'd lord, you know right well j^ou did ; 
And, with them, words of so sweet breath composed 
As made the things more rich : their perfume lost, 
Take these again; for to the noble mind 100 

^ Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind. 
' There, my lord. 

Ham. Ha, ha! are you honest? 

Oph. My lord? 

Ham. Are you fair ? 

Oph. What means your lordship? 

Ham. That if you be honest and fair, your honesty 
should admit no discourse to your beauty. 

Oph. Could beauty, my lord, have better commerce 

than with honesty? iio 

Ham. Ay, truly ; for the power of beauty will sooner 
transform honesty from what it is to a bawd 
than the force of honesty can translate beauty 
into his likeness: this was sometime a paradox, 
but now the time gives it proof. I did love 
you once. 

Oph. Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so. 

Ham. You should not have believed me; for virtue 
cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall 
relish of it: I loved you not. 120 

Oph. I was the more deceived. 

Ham. Get thee to a nwnnery: why wouldst thou be 
a breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent 
honest; but yet I could accuse me of such 



70 Hamlet [ActIIL 

things that it were better my mother had not 
borne me: I am very proud, revengeful, am- 
bitious; with more offences at my beck than I 
have thoughts to put them in, imagination to 
give them shape, or time to act them in. What 
should such fellows as I do crawling between 130 
heaven and earth! We are arrant knaves all; . 
believe none of us. Go thy ways to a nunnery. 
Where's your father? 

Oph. At home, my lord. 

Ham. Let the doors be shut upon him, that he may 
play the fool no where but in's own house. 
Farewell. 

Oph. O, help him, you sweet heavens! 

Ham. If thou dost marry, I'll give thee this plague 

for thy dowry: be thou as chaste as ice, as 140 
pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. 
Get thee to a nunnery, go: farewell. Or, if 
thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool; for wise 
men know well enough what monsters you make 
of them. To a nunnery, go, and quickly too. 
Farewell. 

Oph. O heavenly powers, restore him! 

Ham. I have heard of your paintings too, well 
enough; God hath given you one face, and 
you make yourselves another: you jig, you 150 
amble, and you lisp, and nick-name God's 
creatures, and make your 'wantonness your 
ignorance. Go to, I'll no more on't; it 
hath made me mad. I say, we will have no 



Scene!.] Hamlet 7 1 

more marriages: those that are married already, 
all but one, shall live; the rest shall keep as 
they are. To a nunnery, go. [Exit. 

Oph. O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown! 
The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's, eye, tongue, 

sword : 
The expectancy and rose of the fair state, i6o 

The glass of fashion and the mold of form. 
The observed of all observers, quite, quite down! 
And I, of ladies most deject and wretched. 
That suck'd the honey of his music vows. 
Now see that noble and most sovereign reason. 
Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh; 
That unmatch'd form and feature of blown youth 
Blasted with ecstasy: O, woe is me, 
To have seen what I have seen, see what I see ! 

Re-enter King and Polonius. 

King. Love ! his affections do not that way tend ; 1 70 

Nor what he spake, though it lack'd form a little. 
Was not like madness. There's something in his soul 
O'er which his melancholy sits on brood. 
And I do doubt the hatch and the disclose 
Will be some danger: which for to prevent, 
I have in quick determination 
Thus set it down : he shall with speed to England, 
For the demand of our neglected tribute: 
Haply the seas and countries different 
With variable objects shall expel 180 

This something-settled matter in his heart, 



72 Hamlet [ActIII. 

Whereon his brains still beating puts him thus 
From fashion of himself. What think you on't? 

Pol. It shall do well : but yet do I believe 

The origin and commencement of his grief 
Sprung from neglected love. How now, Ophelia! 
You need not tell us what Lord Hamlet said ; 
We heard it all. My lord, do as you please; 
But, if you hold it fit, after the play. 
Let his queen mother all alone entreat him 190 

To show his grief: let her be round with him; 
And I'll be placed, so please you, in the ear 
Of all their conference. If she find him not, 
To England send him, or confine him where 
Your wisdom best shall think. 

King. It shall be so : 

Madness in great ones must not unwatch'd go. 

[^Exeunt. 



Scene II 
A hall in the castle. 

Enter Hamlet and Players. 

Ham. Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced 
it to you, trippingly on the tongue: but if you 
mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as 
lief the town-crier spoke my lines. Nor do 
not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, 
but use all gently: for in the very torrent, tem- 



Scene II.] Hamlet 73 

pest, and, as I may say, the whirlwind of 
passion, you must acquire and beget a temper- 
ance that may give it smoothness. O, it offends 
me to the soul to hear a robustious periwig- lO 
pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very 
rags, to split the ears of the groundlings, who 
for the most part are capable of nothing but 
inexplicable dumb-shows and noise: I would 
have such a fellow whipped for o'erdoing Terma- 
gant; it out-herods Herod: pray you, avoid it. 

First Play. I warrant your honor. 

Ham. Be not too tame neither, but let your own dis- 
cretion be your tutor : suit the action to the word, 
the word to the action ; with this special observ- 20 
ance, that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature : 
for anything so overdone is from the purpose of 
playing, whose end, both at the first and now, 
was and is, to hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to 
nature; to show virtue her own feature, scorn 
her own image, and the very age and body of 
the time his form and pressure. Now this over- 
done, or come tardy off, though it make the 
unskilful laugh, cannot but make the judicious 
grieve; the censure of the which one must in 30 
your allowance o'erweigh a whole theater of 
others. O, there be players that I have seen 
play, and heard others praise, and that highly, 
not to speak it profanely, that, neither having the* 
accent of Christians nor the gait of Christian, 
pagan, nor man, have so strutted and bellowed 



74 Hamlet [Act ill. 

that I have thought some of nature's journeymen 
had made men and not made them well, they 
imitated humanity so abominably. 

First Play. I hope we have reformed that indiffer- 40 
ently with us, sir. 

Ham. O, reform it altogether. And let those that 
play your clowns speak no more than is set down 
for them: for there be of them that will them- 
selves laugh, to set on some quantity of barren 
spectators to laugh too, though in the mean 
time some necessary question of the play be 
then to be considered: that's villainous, and 
shows a most pitiful ambition in the fool that 
uses it. Go, make you ready. [Exeunt Players. 50 

Enter Polonius, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern. 

How now, my lord! will the king hear this 

piece of work? 
Pol. And the queen too, and that presently. 
Ham. Bid the players make haste. [Exit Polonius. 

Will you two help to hasten them? 

^ * I We will, my lord. 
Gull. \ 

[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, 
Ham. What ho ! Horatio ! 

Enter Horatio. 

Hor. Here, sweet lord, at your service. 



Scene II.] Hamlet 75 

Ham. Horatio, thou art e'en as just a man 

As e'er my conversation coped withal. 60 

Hor. O, my dear lord, — 

Ham. Nay, do not think I flatter; 

For what advancement may I hope from thee 
That no revenue hast but thy good spirits, 
To feed and clothe thee? Why should the poor be 

flatter'd ? 
No, let the candied tongue lick absurd pomp. 
And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee 
Where thrift may follow fawning. Dost thou hear? 
Since my dear soul was mistress of her choice 
And could of men distinguish, her election 
Hath seal'd thee for herself: for thou hast been 70 
As one, in suffering all, that suffers nothing, 
A man that Fortune's buffets and rewards 
Hast ta'en with equal thanks: and blest are those 
Whose blood and judgment are so well commingled 
That they are not a pipe for Fortune's finger 
To sound what stop she please. Give me that man 
That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him 
In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart, 
As I do thee. — Something too much of this. — 
There is a play to-night before the king; 80 

One scene of it comes near the circumstance 
Which I have told thee of my father's death: 
I prithee, when thou seest that act a-foot. 
Even with the very comment of thy soul 
Observe my uncle: if his occulted guilt 
Do -not itself unkennel in one speech, 



76 Hamlet [Act ill. 

It is a damned ghost that we have seen, 

And my imaginations are as foul 

As Vulcan's stithy. Give him heedful note ; 

For I mine ej^es will rivet to his face, 90 

And after we will both our judgments join 

In censure of his seeming. 

Hor. Well, my lord : 

If he steal aught the whilst this play is playing, 
And 'scape detecting, I will pay the theft. 

Ham. They are coming to the play: I must be idle: 
Get you a place. 

Danish march. A flourish. Enter King, Queen, Po- 
LONius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, 
and other LoRDS attendant^ with the Guard carrying 
torches. 

King. How fares our cousin Hamlet? 

Ham. Excellent, i' faith; of the chameleon's dish: 

I eat the air, promise-crammed: you cannot 

feed capons so. lOO 

King. I have nothing with this answer, Hamlet; 

these words are not mine. 
Ham. No, nor mine now. \_To Polonius~\ My 

lord, you played once i' the university, you say? 
Pol. That did I, my lord, and was accounted a 

good actor. 
Ham. What did you enact? 
Pol. I did enact Julius Caersar: I was killed i' 

the Capitol ; Brutus killed me. 



Scene II.] Hamlet 77 

Ham. It was a brute part of hfm to kill so capital a no 
calf there. Be the players ready? 

Ros. Ay, my lord ; they stay upon your pa- 
tience. 
^ Queen. Come hither, my dear Hamlet, sit by 
me. 

Ham. No, good mother, here's metal more attrac- 
tive. 

Pol. [To the King~\ O, ho! do you mark that? 

Ham. Lady, shall I lie in your lap ? 

\^Lyin£^ down at Ophelia^s feet. 

Oph. No, my lord. 120 

Ham. I mean, my head upon your lap? 

Oph. You are merry, my lord. 

Ham. Who, I? 130 

Oph. Ay, my lord. 

Ham. O God, your only jig-maker. What should 
a man do but be merry? for, look you, how 
cheerfully my mother looks, and my father died 
within's two hours. 

Oph. Nay, 'tis twice two months, my lord. 

Ham. So long? Nay then, let the devil wear black, 
for I'll have a suit of sables. O heavens! die 
two months ago, and not forgotten yet? Then 
there's hope a great man's memory may outlive 140 
his life half a year: but, by'r lady, he must 
build churches then; or else shall he suffer 
not thinking on, with the hobby-horse, whose 
epitaph is, ' For, O, for, O, the hobby-horse is 
forgot.' 



78 Hamlet [Act III. 

Hautboys play. . The Dumb-show enters. 

Enter a King and a Queen very lovingly; the Queen 
embracing him, and he her. She kneels, and makes 
show of protestation unto him. He takes her up, and 
declines his head upon her neck: lays him down upon 
a bank of flowers: she, seeing him asleep, leaves him. 
Anon comes in a fellow, takes off his crown, kisses it, 
and pours poison in the King's ears, and exit. The 
Queen returns; finds the King dead, and makes 
passionate action. The Poisoner, with some two or 
three MuTES, comes in again, seeming to lament with 
her. The dead body is carried away. The Poisoner 
wooes the Queen ivith gifts: she seems loath and 
unwilling awhile, but in the end accepts his love. 

\^Exeunt. 

Oph. What means this, my lord? 

Ham. Marry, this is miching mallecho; it means 
mischief. 

Oph. Belike this show imports the argument of the 

play. 150 

Enter Prologue. 

Ham. We shall know by this fellow: the players 

cannot keep counsel ; they'll tell all. 
Oph. You are naught, you are naught: I'll mark 

the play. 
Pro. For us, and for our tragedy, 

Here stooping to your clemency, 160 

We beg your hearing patiently. 



Scene II.] Hamlet 79 

Hani. Is this a prologue, or the posy of a ring? 
Oph. 'Tis brief, my lord. 
Ham. As woman's love. 

Enter two Players, King and Queen. 

P. King. Full thirty times hath Phoebus' cart gone round 
Neptune's salt wash and Tellus' orbed ground, 
And thirty dozen moons with borrowed sheen 
About the world have times twelve thirties been. 
Since love our hearts and Hymen did our hands 
Unite commutual in most sacred bands. 170 

P. Queen. So many journeys may the sun and moon 
Make us again count o'er ere love be done ! 
But, woe is me, you are so sick of late, 
So far from cheer and from your former state, 
That I distrust you. Yet, though I distrust, 
Discomfort you, my lord, it nothing must: 
For women's fear and love holds quantity. 
In neither aught, or in extremity. 
Now, what my love is, proof hath made you know ; 
And as my love is sized, my fear is so : 180 

Where love is great, the littlest doubts are fear ; 
Where little fears grow great, great love grows there. 
P. King. Faith, I must leave thee, love, and shortly too ; 
My operant powers their functions leave to do: 
And thou shalt live in this fair world behind, 
Honor'd, beloved ; and haply one as kind 
For husband shalt thou — 
P. Queen. O, confound the rest! 

Such love must needs be treason in my breast ; 



8o Hamlet [Act III. 

In second husband let me be accurst ! 

None wed the second but who kill'd the first. 190 

Ham. [Aside^ Wormwood, wormwood. 

P. Queen. The instances that second marriage move 
Are base respects of thrift, but none of love: 
A second time I kill my husband dead, 
When second husband kisses me in bed. 

P. King. I do believe you think what now you speak, 
But what we do determine oft we break. 
Purpose is but the slave to memory. 
Of violent birth, but poor validity: 
Which now, like fruit unripe, sticks on the tree, 200 
But fall unshaken when they mellow be. 
Most necessary 'tis that we forget 
To pay ourselves what to ourselves is debt: 
What to ourselves in passion we propose. 
The passion ending, doth the purpose lose. 
The violence of either grief or joy 
Their own enactures with themselves destroy: 
Where joy most revels, grief doth most lament; 
Grief joys, joy grieves, on slender accident. 
This world is not for aye, nor 'tis not strange 210 
That even our loves should with our fortunes change, 
For 'tis a question left us yet to prove. 
Whether love lead fortune, or else fortune love. 
The great man down, you mark his favorite flies; 
The poor advanced makes friends of enemies. 
And hitherto doth love on fortune tend; 
For who not needs shall never lack a friend, 
And who in want a hollow friend doth try, 



Scene IL] Hamlet 8 1 

Directly seasons him his enemy. 

But, orderly to end where I begun, 220 

Our wills and fates do so contrary run 

That our devices still are overthrown ; 

Our thoughts are ours, their ends none of our own: 

So think thou wilt no second husband wed; 

But die thy thoughts when thy first lord is dead. 
P. Queen. Nor earth to me give food, nor heaven light! 

Sport and repose lock from me day and night ! 

To desperation turn my trust and hope! 

An anchor's cheer in prison be my scope! 

Each opposite, that blanks the face of joy 230 

Meet what I would have well and it destroy! 

Both here and hence pursue me lasting strife, 

If, once a widow, ever I be wife! 
Ham. If she should break it now! 

P. King. 'Tis deeply sworn. Sweet, leave me here a 
while ; 

My spirits grow dull, and fain I would beguile 

The tedious day with sleep. [^Sleeps. 

P. Queen. Sleep rock thy brain; 

And never come mischance between us twain! [Exit. 
Ham. Madam, how like you this play? 
Queen. The lady doth protest too much, methinks. 240 
Ham. O, but she'll keep her word. 
King. Have you heard the argument? Is there no 

offence in't? 
Ham. No, no, they do but jest, poison in jest; no 

offence i' the world. 
King. What do you call the play? 



82 Hamlet [Act III. 

Ham. The Mouse-trap. Marry, how? Tropically. 
This play is the image of a murder done in 
Vienna: Gonzago is the duke's name; his wife, 
Baptista: you shall see anon; 'tis a knavish 250 
piece of work; but what 0' that? your majesty 
and we that have free souls, it touches us not : let 
the galled jade wince, our withers are unwrung. 

Enter LuciANUS. 

This is one Lucianus, nephew to the king. 

Oph. You are as good as a chorus, my lord. 

Ham. I could interpret between you and your love, 
if I could see the puppets dallying. 

Oph. You arc keen, my lord, you are keen. 258 

Ham. Begin, 

murderer; pox, leave thy damnable faces, and 
begin. Come : ' the croaking raven doth bellow 
for revenge.' 

Luc. Thoughts black, hands apt, drugs fit, and 
time agreeing; 
Confederate season, else no creature seeing; 
Thou mixture rank, of midnight weeds collected, 
With Hecate's ban thrice blasted, thrice infected. 
Thy natural magic and dire property, 270 

On wholesome life usurp immediately. 

l^Pours the poison into the sleepe/s ear. 

Ham. He poisons him i' the garden for his estate. 
His name's Gonzago: the story is extant, and 
written in very choice Italian : you shall see anon 
how the murderer gets the love of Gonzago's wife. 



Scene II.] Hamlet 83 

Oph. The king rises. 

Ham. What, frighted with false fire! 

Queen. How fares my lord? 

Pol. Give o'er the play. 

King. Give me some light. Away! 280 

Pol. Lights, lights, lights! 

\_Exeunt all but Hamlet and Horatio. 
Ham. Why, let the stricken deer go weep, 
The hart ungalled play; 
For some must watch, while some must sleep: 

So runs the world away. 
Would not this, sir, and a forest of feathers — if 
the rest of my fortunes turn Turk with me — 
with two Provincial roses on my razed shoes, 
get me a fellowship in a cry of players, sir? 
Hor. Half a share. 290 

Ham. A whole one, I. 

For thou dost know, O Damon dear. 

This realm dismantled was 
Of Jove himself; and now reigns here 
A very, very — pajock. 
Hor. You might have rhymed. 
Ham. O good Horatio, I'll take the ghost's word 

for a thousand pound. Didst perceive? 
Hor. Very well, my lord. 

Ham. Upon the talk of the poisoning? 300 

Hor. I did very well note him. 

Ham. Ah, ha! Come, some music! come, the 
recorders! 



84 Hamlet [Act III. 

For if the king like not the comedy, 
When then, belike, he likes it not, perdy. 
Come, some music! 

Re-enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 

Guil. Good my lord, vouchsafe me a word with 
you. 

Ham. Sir, a whole history. 

Guil. The king, sir, — 310 

Ham. Ay, sir, what of him? 

Guil. Is in his retirement marvelous distempered. 

Ham. With drink, sir? 

Guil. No, my lord, rather with choler. 

Ham. Your wisdom should show itself more richer 
to signify this to his doctor; for, for me to put 
him to his purgation would perhaps plunge him 
into far more choler. 

Guil. Good my lord, put your discourse into some 320 
frame, and start not so wildly from my affair. 

Ham. I am. tame, sir: pronounce. 

Guil. The queen, your mother, in most great afflic- 
tion of spirit, hath sent me to you. 

Ham. You are welcome. 

Guil. Nay, good my lord, this courtesy is not of the 
right breed. If it shall please you to make me 
a wholesome answer, I will do your mother's 
commandment: if not, your pardon and my 
return shall be the end of my business. 330 

Ham. Sir, I cannot. 

Guil. What, my lord? 



Scene II.] Hamlet 85 

Ham. Make you a wholesome answer; my wit's 

diseased: but, sir, such answer as, I can make, 

you shall command ; or rather, as you say, my 

mother: therefore no more, but to the matter: 

my mother, you say, — 
Ros. Then thus she says; your behavior hath struck 

her into amazement and admiration. 
Ham. O wonderful son, that can so astonish a 340 

mother! But is there no sequel at the heels 

of this mother's admiration? Impart. 
Ros. She desires to speak with you in her closet, ere 

you go to bed. 
Ham. We shall obey, were she ten times our 

mother. Have you any further trade with us? 
Ros. My lord, you once did love me. 
Ham. So I do still, by these pickers and 

stealers. 
Ros. Good my lord, what is your cause of dis- 350 

temper? you do surely bar the door upon 

your own liberty, if you deny your griefs to 

your friend. 
Ham. Sir, I lack advancement. 
Ros. How can that be, when you have the voice 

of the king himself for your succession in 

Denmark? 
Ham. Ay, sir, but * While the grass grows,' — the 

proverb is something musty. 

Re-enter Players with recorders. 
O, the recorders ! let me see one. To withdraw 360 



86 Hamlet [Act ill. 

with you: — why do you go about to recover the 
wind of me, as if you would drive me into a toil ? 

GuiL O, my lord, if my duty be too bold, my love 
is too unmannerly. 

Ha?n. I do not well understand that. Will you 
play upon this pipe? 

Guil. My lord, I cannot. 

Ham. I pray you. 

Guil. Believe me, I cannot. 

Ham. I do beseech you. 370 

Guil. I know no touch of it, my lord. 

Ham. 'Tis as easy as lying: govern these ven- 
tages with your fingers and thumb, give it 
breath with your mouth, and it will discourse 
most eloquent music. Look you, these are 
the stops. 

GuiL But these cannot I command to any utter- 
ance of harmony; I have not the skill. 

Ham. Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing 

you make of me! You would play upon me; 380 
you would seem to know my stops; you would 
pluck out the heart of my mystery; you would 
sound me from my lowest note to the top of 
my compass: and there is much music, excel- 
lent voice, in this little organ; yet cannot you 
make it speak. 'Sblood, do you think I am 
easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me 
what instrument you will, though you can fret 
me, yet you cannot play upon me. 



Scene II.] Hamlet 87 

Re-enter Polonius. 

God bless you, sir! 390 

Pol. My lord, the queen would speak with you, and 

presently. 
Ham. Do you see yonder cloud that's almost in 

shape of a camel? 
Pol. By the mass, and 'tis like a camel, indeed. 
Ham. Methinks it is like a weasel. 
Pol. It is backed like a weasel. 
Ham. Or like a whale ? 
Pol. Very like a whale. 
Ham. Then I will come to my mother by and by. 400 

They fool me to the top of my bent. I will 

come by and by. 
Pol. I will say so. [Exit Polonius. 

Ham. ' By and by ' is easily said. Leave me, friends. 

[Exeunt all but Hamlet. 

'Tis now the very witching time of night, 

When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out 

Contagion to this world : now could I drink hot 
blood, 

And do such bitter business as the day ^•^"^ 

Would quake to look on. Soft! now to my mother. 

heart, lose not thy nature; let not ever 411 
The soul of Nero enter this firm bosom : 

Let me be cruel, not unnatural: 

1 will speak daggers to her, but use none ; 
My tongue and soul in this be hypocrites; • 
How in my words soever she be shent, 

To give them seals never, my soul, consent! [Exit. 



+ 



88 Hamlet [ActIII. 

Scene III 

A room in the castle. 

Enter King, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern. 

King. I like him not, nor stands it safe with us 

To let his madness range. Therefore prepare you; 

I your commission will forthwith dispatch, 

And he to England shall along with you: 

The terms of our estate may not endure 

Hazard so near us as doth hourly grow 

Out of his lunacies. 

Guil. We will ourselves provide : 

Most holy and religious fear it is 
To keep those many many bodies safe 
That live and feed upon your majesty. lO 

Ros. The single and peculiar life is bound 

With all the strength and armor of the mind 
To keep itself from noyance; but much more 
That spirit upon whose weal depends and rests 
The lives of many. The cease of majesty 
Dies not alone, but, like a gulf, doth draw 
What's near it with it : it is a massy wheel, 
Fix'd on the summit of the highest mount. 
To whose huge spokes ten thousand lesser things 
Are mortised and adjoin'd; which, when it falls, 20 
Each small annexment, petty consequence. 
Attends the boisterous ruin. Never alone 
Did the king sigh, but with a general groan. 



Scene III.] Hamlet 89 

King. Arm you, I pray you, to this speedy voyage, 
For we will fetters put about this fear. 
Which now goes too free-footed. 

(^ •] r We will haste us. 

[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, 
Enter POLONIUS. 

Pol. My lord, he's going to his mother's closet: 
Behind the arras I'll convey myself. 
To hear the process: I'll warrant she'll tax him 

home: 
And, as you said, and wisely was it said, 30 

'Tis meet that some more audience than a mother. 
Since nature makes them partial, should o'erhear 
The speech, of vantage. Fare you well, my 

liege : 
I'll call upon you ere you go to bed. 
And tell you what I know. 

King. Thanks, dear my lord. 

[Exit Polonius. 
O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven ; 
It hath the primal eldest curse upon't, 
A brother's murder. Pray can I not, 
Though inclination be as sharp as will: 
My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent, 40 

And like a man to double business bound, 
I stand in pause where I shall first begin. 
And both neglect. What if this cursed hand 



90 Hamlet [Act III. 

Were thicker than itself with brother's blood, 

Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens 

To wash it white as snow? Whereto serves 

mercy 
But to confront the visage of offence? 
And what's in prayer but this twofold force, 
To be forestalled ere we come to fall. 
Or pardon'd being down? Then I'll look up; 50 
My fault is past. But O, what form of prayer 
Can serve my turn ? * Forgive me my foul 

murder ' ? 
That cannot be, since I am still possess'd 
Of those effects for which I did the murder, 
My crown, mine own ambition and my queen. 
May one be pardon'd and retain the offence? 
In the corrupted currents of this world 
Offence's gilded hand may shove by justice, 
And oft 'tis seen the wicked prize itself 
Buys out the law : but 'tis not so above ; 60 

There is no shuffling, there the action lies 
In his true nature; and we ourselves compell'd. 
Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults, 
To give in evidence. What then? what rests? 
Try what repentance can: what can It not? 
Yet what can it when one can not repent? 
O wretched state! O bosom black as death! 
O limed soul, that struggling to be free. 
Art more engaged! Help, angels! Make assay! 
Bow, stubborn knees, and, heart with strings of 

steel. 



Scene III.] Hamlet 9 1 

Be soft as sinews of the new-born babe ! 71 

All may be well. [Retires and kneels. 

Enter Hamlet. 

Ham. Now might I do it pat, now he is praying; 
And now I'll do't. And so he goes to heaven : 
And so am I revenged. That would be scann'd; 
A villain kills my father ; and for that, 
I, his sole son, do this same villain send 
To heaven. 

O, this is hire and salary, not revenge. 
He took my father grossly, full of bread, 80 

With all his crimes broad blown, as flush as 

May; 
And how his audit stands who knows save heaven ? 
But in our circumstance and course of thought, 
'Tis heavy with him: and am I then revenged, 
To take him in the purging of his soul. 
When he is fit and season'd for his passage ? 
No! 

Up, sword, and know thou a more horrid hent : 
When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, 
Or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed ; 90 

At gaming, swearing, or about some act 
That has no relish of salvation in't; 
Then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven, 
And that his soul may be as damn'd and black 
As hell, whereto it goes. My mother stays: 
This physic but prolongs thy sickly days. [Exit. 



92 Hamlet [Act in. 

King. [Rising^ My words fly up, my thoughts remain 
below : 
Words without thoughts never to heaven go. \^Exit. 



Scene IV 
The Queen s closet. 

Enter QuEEN and PoLONlus. 

Pol. He will come straight. Look you lay home to him : 
Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with, 
And that your grace hath screen'd and stood between 
Much heat and him. I'll sconce me even here. 
Pray you, be round with him. 

Ham. [fVithin~\ Mother, mother, mother! 

Queen. I'll warrant you; fear me not. Withdraw, I 

hear him coming. [Polonius hides behind the arras. 

Enter Hamlet. 

Ham. Now, mother, what's the matter? 

Queen. Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended. 

Ham. Mother, you have my father much offended. lO 

Queen. Come, come, you answer with an Idle tongue. 

Ham. Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue. 

Queen. Why, how now, Hamlet! 

Ham. What's the matter now? 

Queen. Have you forgot me? 

Ham. No, by the rood, not so: 

You are the queen, your husband's brother's wife; 

And — would it were not so ! — ^you are my mother. 



Scene IV.] Hamlet 93 

Queen. Nay, then, I'll set those to you that can speak. 
Ham. Come, come, and sit you down ; you shall not 
budge ; 

You go not till I set you up a glass 

Where you may see the inmost part of you. 20 

Queen. What wilt thou do? thou wilt not murder me? 

Help, help, ho! 
Fol. [Behind] What, ho! help, help, help! 
Ham. [Drawing] How now! a rat? Dead, for a ducat, 
dead! [Makes a pass through the arras. 

Pol. [Behind] O, I am slain ! [Falls and dies. 

V Queen. O me, what hast thou done? 
Ham. Nay, I know not : 

Is it the king? 
\ Queen. O, what a rash and bloody deed is this! 
Ham. A bloody deed ! almost as bad, good mother, 

As kill a king, and marry with his brother. 
' Queen. As kill a king! 
Ham. Ay, lady, 'twas my word. " 30 

[Lifts up the arras and discovers Polonius. 

Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell! 

I took thee for thy better: take thy fortune; 

Thou find'st to be too busy is some danger. 

Leave wringing of your hands: peace! sit you down, 

And let me wring your heart : for so I shall, 

If it be made of penetrable stuff; 

If damned custom have not brass'd it so 

That it be proof and bulwark against sense. 
Queen. What have I done, that thou darest wag thy tongue 

In noise so rude against me ? 



94 Hamlet [Act ill. 

Ham. Such an act 40 

That blurs the grace and blush of modesty, 
Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose 
From the fair forehead of Innocent love 
And sets a blister there, makes marriage vov^^s 
As false as dicers' oaths: O, such a deed 
As from the body of contraction plucks 
The very soul, and sweet religion makes 
A rhapsody of words : heaven's face doth glow ; 
Yea, this solidity and compound mass, 
With tristful visage, as against the doom, 50 

Is thought-sick at the act. 
\ Queen. Ay me, what act. 

That roars so loud and thunders In the Index? 

Ham. Look here, upon this picture, and on this. 
The counterfeit presentment of two brothers. 
See, what a grace was seated on this brow; 
Hyperion's curls, the front of Jove himself, 
An eye like Mars, to threaten and command; 
A station like the herald Mercury 
New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill; 
A combination and a form Indeed, 60 

Where every god did seem to set his seal. 
To give the world assurance of a man: 
This was your husband. Look you now, what 

follows : 
Here Is your husband ; like a mlldew'd ear. 
Blasting his wholesome brother. Have you eyes? 
Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed. 
And batten on this moor? Ha! have you eyes? 



Scene IV.] Hamlet 95 

You cannot call ft love, for at your age 
The hey-day In the blood Is tame, It's humble, 69 
And waits upon the judgment: and what judgment 
Would step from this to this? Sense sure you have, 
Else could you not have motion : but sure, that sense 
Is apoplex'd: for madness would not err, 
Nor sense to ecstasy was ne'er so thrall'd 
But It reserved some quantity of choice, 
To serve In such a difference. What devil was't 
That thus hath cozen'd you at hoodman-blind ? 
Eyes without feeling, feeling without sight. 
Ears without hands or eyes, smelling sans all, 
Or but a sickly part of one true sense 80 

Could not so mope. 

O shame! where Is thy blush? Rebellious hell, 
If thou canst mutlne in a matron's bones, 
To flaming youth let virtue be as wax, 
And melt In her own fire : proclaim no shame 
When the compulsive ardor gives the charge, 
Since frost itself as actively doth burn 
And reason pandars will. 
\ Queen. O Hamlet, speak no more: 

Thou turn'st mine eyes Into my very soul, 
And there I see such black and grained spots 90 

As will not leave their tinct. 
Ham, A murderer and a villain ; 

A slave that Is not twentieth part the tithe 
Of your precedent lord ; a vice of kings ; 
A cutpurse of the empire and the rule, 



g6 Hamlet [Act ill. 

That from a shelf the precious diadem stole lOO 

And put It In his pocket ! 
\ Queen. No more! 

Ham. A king of shreds and patches — 

Enter Ghost. 

Save me, and hover o'er me with your wings, 
You heavenly guards! What would your gracious 
figure? 
"\ Queen. Alas, he's mad! 

— Ham. Do you not come your tardy son to chide, 
That, lapsed In time and passion, lets go by 
The Important acting of your dread command ? 
O, say! 
Ghost. Do not forget: this visitation lio 

Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose. 
.^ But, look, amazement on thy mother sits: 
O, step between her and her fighting soul: 
Conceit In weakest bodies strongest works: 
Speak to her, Hamlet. 
Ham. How Is It with you, lady? 

\ Queen. Alas, how Is't with you. 

That you do bend your eye on vacancy 

And with the Incorporal air do hold discourse? 

Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep ; 

And, as the sleeping soldiers In the alarm, I20 

Your bedded hairs, like life in excrements, 

Start up and stand an end. O gentle son, 

Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper 

Sprinkle cool patience. Whereon do you look? 



Scene IV.] Hamlet 97 

Ham. On him, on him! Look you, how pale he glares! 
His form and cause conjoin'd, preaching to stones, 
Would make them capable. Do not look upon me. 
Lest with this piteous action you convert 
My stern effects: then what I have to do 129 

Will want true color; tears perchance for blood. 

Qw^^w. To whom do you speak this? 

jj^j^^ Do you see nothing there? 

>^ Queen Nothing at all ; yet all that is I see. 
Ham. Nor did you nothing hear? 

Queen. No, nothing but ourselves. 

Ham. Why, look you there! look, how it steals away! 
My father, in his habit as he lived ! 
Look, where he goes, even now, out at the portal! 

[^Exit Ghost. 

X Queen. This is the very coinage of your brain : 
This bodiless creation ecstasy 
Is very cunning in. 
Ham. Ecstasy! ^39 

My pulse, as yours, doth temperately keep time, 
And makes as healthful music: it is not madness 
That I have utter'd : bring me to the test. 
And I the matter will re-»word, which madness 
Would gambol from. Mother, for love of grace. 
Lay not that flattering unction to your soul. 
That not your trespass, but my madness speaks: 
It will but skin and film the ulcerous place. 
Whiles rank corruption, mining all within, 
Infects unseen. Confess yourself to heaven ; 
Repent what's past, avoid what is to come, 150 



98 Hamlet [Act III. 

And do not spread the compost on the weeds, 
To make them ranker. Forgive me this rny virtue, 
For in the fatness of these pursy times 
Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg, 
Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good. 
V Queen. O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain. 
Ham. O, throw away the worser part of it, 
And live the purer with the other half. 
Good night: but go not to my uncle's bed; 
Assume a virtue, if you have it not. 160 

That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat, 
Of habits devil, is angel j^et in this. 
That to the use of actions fair and good 
He likewise gives a frock or livery, 
That aptly is put on. Refrain to-night, 
And that shall lend a kind of easiness 
To the next abstinence; the next more easy; 
For use almost can change the stamp of nature, 
And either . . . the devil, or throw him out 
With wondrous potency. Once more, good night: 
And when you are desirous to be blest, 171 

I'll blessing beg of you. For this same lord, 

[Pointing to Polonius. 
I do repent: but heaven hath pleased it so. 
To punish me with this and this with me. 
That I must be their scourge and minister. 
I will bestow him, and will answer well 
The death I gave him. So, again, good night. 
I must be cruel, only to be kind : 



Scene IV.] Hamlet 99 

Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind. 

One word more, good lady. 
\ Queen. What shall I do? i8o 

Ham. Not this, by no means, that I bid you do : 

Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed ; 

Pinch wanton on your cheek, call you his mouse ; 

And let him, for a pair of reechy kisses, 

Or paddling In your neck with his damn'd fingers, 

Make you to ravel all this matter out, 

That I essentially am not In madness. 

But mad In craft. 'Twere good you let him know; 

For who, that's but a queen, fair, sober, wise, 

Would from a paddock, from a bat, a gib, igo 

Such dear concernlngs hide? who would do so? 

No, In despite of sense and secrecy, 

Unpeg the basket on the house's top. 

Let the birds fly, and like the famous ape. 

To try conclusions, In the basket creep. 

And break your own neck down. 
\ Queen. Be thou assured. If words be made of breath, 

And breath of life, I have no life to breathe 

What thou hast said to me. 
Ham. I must to England ; you know that? 
^ Queen. Alack, 200 

I had forgot : 'tis so concluded on. 
Ham. There's letters seal'd : and my two schoolfellows, 

Whom I will trust as I will adders fang'd, 

They bear the mandate ; they must sweep my way. 

And marshal me to knavery. Let It work; 

For 'tis the sport to have the englner 



100 Hamlet [Act IV. 

Hoist with his own petar : and't shall go hard 

But I will delve one yard below their mines, 

And blow" them at the moon : O, 'tis most sweet, 

When in one line two crafts directly meet. 210 

This man shall set me packing: 

I'll lug the guts into the neighbor room. 

Mother, good night. Indeed this counselor 

Is now most still, most secret and most grave, 

Who was in life a foolish prating knave. 

Come, sir, to draw toward an end with you. 

Good night, mother. 

l^Exeunt severally ; Ha?nlet dragging in Polonius. 



ACT FOURTH 

Scene I 

A room in the castle. 

Enter King, Queen, Rosencrantz, and 

GUILDENSTERN. 

King. There's matter in these sighs, these profound heaves: 
You must translate: 'tis fit we understand them. 
Where is your son? 

Queen. Bestow this place on us a little while. 

\Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 
Ah, mine own lord, what have I seen to-night ! 

King. What, Gertrude? How does Hamlet? 

Oueen. Mad as the sea and wind, when both contend 



Scene!.] Hamlet lOI 

Which is the mightier: In his lawless fit, 

Behind the arras hearing something stir, 

Whips out his rapier, cries ' A rat, a rat! ' lO 

And, In this bralnlsh apprehension, kills 

The unseen good old man. 

King. O heavy deed! 

It had been so with us, had we been there: 
His liberty is full of threats to all, 
To you yourself, to us, to every one. 
Alas, how shall this bloody deed be answer'd ? 
It will be laid to us, whose providence 
Should have kept short, restrain'd and out of haunt. 
This mad young man : but so much was our love. 
We would not understand what was most fit, 20 

But, like the owner of a foul disease. 
To keep It from divulging, let it feed 
Even on the pith of life. Where is he gone? 

Queen. To draw apart the body he hath kill'd: 
O'er whom his very madness, like some ore 
Among a mineral of metals base, 
Shows Itself pure ; he weeps for what is done. 

King. O Gertrude, come away! 

The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch. 

But we will ship him hence: and this vile deed 30 

We must, with all our majesty and skill, 

Both countenance and excuse. Ho, Guildenstern ! 

Re-enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 

Friends both, go join you with some further aid: 
Hamlet In madness hath Polonius slain, 



102 Hamlet [Act IV. 

And from his mother's closet hath he dragg'd him: 
Go seek him out ; speak fair, and bring the body 
Into the chapel. I pray you, haste in this. 

\^Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 
Come, Gertrude, we'll call up our wisest friends; 
And let them know, both what we mean to do, 
And what's untimely done. .... 40 

Whose whisper o'er the world's diameter. 
As level as the cannon to his blank, 
Transports his poison'd shot, may miss our name 
And hit the woundless air. O, come away! 
My soul is full of discord and dismay. [^Exeunt. 



Scene II 
Another room in the castle. 
Enter Hamlet. 
Ham. Safely stowed. 
^^' I \ Within'] Hamlet! Lord Hamlet. 

ijUlL. \ 

Ham. But soft, what noise? who calls on Hamlet? 
O, here they come. 

Enter RoSENCRANTZ and GuiLDENSTERN. 

Ros. What have you done, my lord, with the dead body? 
Ham. Compounded it with dust, whereto 'tis kin. 
Ros. Tell us where 'tis, that we may take it thence 
And bear it to the chapel. 



Scene IL] Hamlet IO3 

Ham. Do not believe it. 

Ros. Believe what? 10 

Ham. That I can keep your counsel and not mine 
own. Besides, to be demanded of a sponge! 
what replication should be made by the son of 
a king? 

Ros. Take you me for a sponge, my lord? 

Ham. Ay, sir, that soaks up the king's counten- 
ance, his rewards, his authorities. But such 
officers do the king best service in the end: he 
keeps them, like an ape, in the corner of his 
jaw; first mouthed, to be last swallowed: when 20 
he needs what you have gleaned, it is but 
squeezing you, and, sponge, you shall be dry 
again. 

Ros. I understand you not, my lord. 

Ham. I am glad of it: a knavish speech sleeps in a 
foolish ear. 

Ros. My lord, you must tell us where the body is, 
and go with us to the king. 

Ham. The body is with the king, but the king is not 

with the body. The king is a thing — 30 

Guil. A thing, my lord? 

Ham. Of nothing: bring me to him. Hide fox, 

and all after. [Exeunt. 



104 Hamlet [ActIv. 

Scene III 
Another room in the castle. 

Enter King, attended. 

King. I have sent to seek him, and to find the body. 
How dangerous is it that this man goes loose ! 
Yet must not we put the strong law on him : 
He's loved of the distracted multitude. 
Who like not in their judgment, but their eyes; 
And where 'tis so, the offender's scourge is weigh'd. 
But never the offence. To bear all smooth and even, 
This sudden sending him away must seem 
Deliberate pause: diseases desperate grown 
By desperate appliance are relieved, lo 

Or not at all. 

Enter Rosencrantz. 

How now! what hath befall'n? 
Ros. Where the dead body is bestow'd, my lord, 

We cannot get from him. 
King. But where is he ? 

Ros. Without, my lord ; guarded, to know your pleasure. 
King. Bring him before us. 
Ros. Ho, Guildenstern ! bring in my lord. 

Enter Hamlet and Guildenstern. 

King. Now, Hamlet, where's Polonius? 

Ham. At supper. 

King. At supper! where? 



Scene III.] Hamlet 1 05 

Ham. Not where he eats, but where he is eaten: a 20 
certain convocation of politic worms are e'en at 
him. Your worm is your only emperor for 
diet: we fat all creatures else to fat us, and we 
fat ourselves for maggots: your fat king and 
your lean beggar is but variable service, two 
dishes, but to one table: that's the end. 

King. Alas, alas! 

Ham. A man may fish with the worm that hath eat 
of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of 
that worm. 30 

King. What dost thou mean by this? 

Ham. Nothing but to show you how a king may go 
a progress through the guts of a beggar. 

King. Where is Polonius? 

Ham. In heaven ; send thither to see : if your 
messenger find him not there, seek him i' the 
other place yourself. But indeed, if you find 
him not within this month, you shall nose him 
as you go up the stairs into the lobby. 

King. Go seek him there. [To some Attendants. 40 

Ham. He will stay till you come. [Exeunt Attendants. 

King. Hamlet, this deed, for thine especial safety, — 
Which we do tender, as we dearly grieve 
For that which thou hast done, — must send thee hence 
With fiery quickness: therefore prepare thyself; 
The bark is ready, and the wind at help. 
The associates tend, and every thing is bent 
For England. 

Ham, For England? 



io6 Hamlet [Act IV. 

King, Ay, Hamlet. 

Ham. Good. 

King. So is It, If thou knew'st our purposes. 

Ham. I see a cherub that sees them. But, come; 50 
for England! Farewell, dear mother. 

King. Thy loving father, Hamlet. 

Ham. My mother: father and mother is man and 
wife; man and wife is one flesh, and so, my 
mother. Come, for England ! [Exit. 

King. Follow him at foot ; tempt him with speed aboard ; 
Delay it not; Fll have him hence to-night: 
Away! for every thing is seal'd and done 
That else leans on the affair: pray you, make haste. 

[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 
And, England, If my love thou hold'st at aught — 
As my great power thereof may give thee sense, 61 
Since yet thy cicatrice looks raw and red 
After the Danish sword, and thy free awe 
Pays homage to us — thou mayst not coldly set 
Our sovereign process; which imports at full, 
By letters congruing to that effect, 
The present death of Hamlet. Do It, England ; 
For like the hectic in my blood he rages. 
And thou must cure me: till I know 'tis done, 
Howe'er my haps, my joys were ne'er begun. 70 

[Exit. 



Scene IV.] Hamlet 107 

Scene IV 
A plain in Denmark. 

Enter FoRTiNBRAS, a Captain and Soldiers, marching. 

For. Go, captain, from me greet the Danish king; 
Tell him that, by his license, Fortinbras 
Craves the conveyance of a promised march 
Over his kingdom. You know the rendezvous. 
If that his majesty would aught with us, 
We shall express our duty in his eye; 
And let him know so. 

Cap. I will do't, my lord. 

For. Go softly on. 

\^Exeunt Fortinbras and Soldiers. 

Enter Hamlet, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and 

others. 

Ham. Good sir, whose powers are these? 

Cap. They are of Norway, sir. lO 

Ham. How purposed, sir, I pray you? 

Cap. Against some part of Poland. 

Ham. Who commands them, sir? 

Cap. The nephew to old Norway, Fortinbras. 

Ham. Goes it against the main of Poland, sir, 
Or fqr some frontier? 

Cap. Truly to speak, and with no addition. 
We go to gain a little patch of ground 
That hath in it no profit but the name. 



io8 Hamlet [ActIV. 

To pay five ducats, five, I v^^ould not farm it; 20 
Nor will it yield to Norway or the Pole 
A ranker rate, should it be sold in fee. 

Ham. Why, then the Polack never will defend it. 

Cap. Yes, it is already garrison'd. 

Ham. Two thousand souls and twenty thousand ducats 
Will not debate the question of this straw : 
This is the imposthume of much wealth and peace, 
That inward breaks, and shows no cause without 
Why the man dies. I humbly thank you, sir. 

Cap. God be wi' you, sir. \Exit. 

Ros. Will't please you go, my lord? 

Ham. I'll be with you straight. Go a little before. 31 

[Exeunt all but Hamlet. 
How all occasions do inform against me. 
And spur my dull revenge! What is a man. 
If his chief good and market of his time 
Be but to sleep and feed ? a beast, no more. 
Sure, he that made us with such large discourse, 
Looking before and after, gave us not 
That capability and god-like reason 
To fust in us unused. Now, whether it be 
Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple 40 

Of thinking too precisely on the event, — 
A thought which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom 
And ever three parts coward, — I do not know 
Why yet I live to say ' This thing's to do,' 
Sith I have cause and will and strength and means 
To do't. Examples gross as earth exhort me : 
Witness this army of such mass and charge 



Scene v.] Hamlet IO9 

Led by a delicate and tender prince, 

Whose spirit with divine ambition puff'd 

Makes mouths at the invisible event, 50 

Exposing w^hat is mortal and unsure 

To all that fortune, death and danger dare, 

Even for an egg-shell. Rightly to be great 

Is not to stir v^^ithout great argument, 

But greatly to find quarrel in a straw^ 

When honor's at the stake. How^ stand I then, 

That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd, 

Excitements of my reason and my blood, 

And let all sleep, w^^hile to my shame I see 

The imminent death of twenty thousand men, 60 

That for a fantasy and trick of fame 

Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot 

Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause. 

Which is not tomb enough and continent 

To hide the slain? O, from this time forth. 

My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!/' 

[Exit. 

Scene V 
Elsinore. A room in the castle. 

Enter Queen, Horatio, and a Gentleman. 

Queen, I will not speak with her. 

Gent. She is importunate, indeed distract : 

Her mood will needs be pitied. 
Queen. What would she have? 



no Hamlet [Act IV. 

Gent. She speaks much of her father; says she hears 

There's tricks i' the world, and hems, and beats her 

heart, 
Spurns enviously at straws, speaks things in doubt. 
That carry but half sense : her speech is nothing, 
Yet the unshaped use of it doth move 
The hearers to collection ; they aim at it. 
And botch the words up fit to their own thoughts; 
Which, as her winks, and nods, and gestures yield 
them, 1 1 

Indeed would make one think there might be thought. 
Though nothing sure, yet much unhappily. 

Hor. 'Twere good she were spoken with, for she may 
strew 
Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds. 

Queen. Let her come in. \^Exit Gentleman. 

[Aside^ To my sick soul, as sin's true nature is. 
Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss: 
So full of artless jealousy is guilt. 
It spills itself in fearing to be spilt. 20 

Re-enter Horatio, with Ophelia. 

Oph. Where is the beauteous majesty of Denmark? 

Queen. How now, Ophelia! 

Oph. [^Sings^ How should I your true love know 

From another one ? 
By his cockle hat and stafiE, 

And his sandal shoon. 
Queen. Alas, sweet lady, what imports this song? 
Oph. Say you ? nay, pray you, mark. 



Scene V.] 



Hamlet 



Hi 



[Sings] He Is dead and gone, lady, 

He is dead and gone; 30 

At his head a grass-green turf, 
At his heels a stone. 
Queen. Nay, but, Ophelia, — 
Oph. Pray you, mark. 

\_Sings] White his shroud as the mountain snow, — 

Enter King. 

Queen. Alas, look here, my lord. 

Oph. \_Sings~\ Larded with sweet flowers ; 

Which bewept to the grave did go 
With true-love showers. 
King. How do you, pretty lady? 40 

Oph. Well, God 'ild you! They say the owl was 
a baker's daughter. Lord, we know what we 
are, but know not what we may be. God be 
at your table ! 
King. Conceit upon her father. 

Oph. Pray you, let's have no words of this; but 
when they ask you what it means, say you this: 
[Sings] To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day 
All in the morning betime. 
And I a maid at your window, 50 

To be your Valentine. 
King. How long hath she been thus? 
Oph. I hope all will be well. We must be patient: 
but I cannot choose but weep, to think 
they should lay him i' the cold ground. My 70 
brother shall know of it: and so I thank you 



^ 



112 Hamlet [ActIV. 

for your good counsel. Come, my coach! 
Good night, ladies; good night, sweet ladies; 
good night, good night. [Exit. 

King. Follow her close; give her good watch, I pray 
you. \_Exit Horatio. 

O, this is the poison of deep grief ; it springs 
All from her father's death. O Gertrude, Gertrude, 
When sorrows come, they come not single spies. 
But in battalions! First, her father slain: 
Next, your son gone ; and he most violent author 80 
Of his own just remove: the people muddied. 
Thick and unwholesome in their thoughts and whis- 
pers, 
For good Polonius' death; and we have done but 

greenly. 
In hugger-mugger to inter him : poor Ophelia 
Divided from herself and her fair judgment, 
Without the which we are pictures, or mere beasts: 
Last, and as much containing as all these. 
Her brother is in secret come from France, 
Feeds on his wonder, keeps himself in clouds. 
And wants not buzzers to infect his ear 90 

With pestilent speeches of his father's death; 
Wherein necessity, of matter beggar'd. 
Will nothing stick our person to arraign 
In ear and ear. O my dear Gertrude, this. 
Like to a murdering-piece, in many places 
Gives me superfluous death. [J noise luithin. 

Queen. Alack, what noise is this? 

King. Where are my Switzers? Let them guard the door. 



Scene v.] Hamlet 1 13 

Enter another Gentleman. 

What is the matter? 

Gent. Save yourself, my lord : 

The ocean, overpeering of his list, 
Eats not the flats with more impetuous haste 100 
Than young Laertes, in a riotous head, 
O'erbears your officers. The rabble call him lord; 
And, as the world were now but to begin, 
Antiquity forgot, custom not known. 
The ratifiers and props of every word. 
They cry ' Choose we ; Laertes shall be king ! ' 
Caps, hands, and tongues applaud it to the clouds, 
' Laertes shall be king, Laertes king! ' 
\Queen. How cheerfully on the false trail they cry! 

O, this is counter, you false Danish dogs ! 1 10 

[Noise within. 

King. The doors are broke. 

Enter Laertes, armed; Danes following. 

Laer. Where is this king? Sirs, stand you all without. 
Danes. No, let's come in. 

Laer. I pray you, give me leave. 

Danes. We will, we will. [They retire without the door. 
Laer. I thank you : keep the door. O thou vile king. 

Give me my father ! 
\Queen. Calmly, good Laertes. 

Laer. That drop of blood that's calm proclaims me bastard ; 

Cries cuckold to my father, brands the harlot 



114 Hamlet [ActIV. 

Even here, between the chaste unsmirched brows 
Of my true mother.. 

King. What is the cause, Laertes, 120 

That thy rebellion looks so giant-like? 
Let him go, Gertrude; do not fear our person: 
There's such divinity doth hedge a king, 
That treason can but peep to what it would, 
Acts little of his will. Tell me, Laertes, 
Why thou art thus incensed. Let him go, Gertrude. 
Speak, man. 

Laer. Where is my father? 

King. Dead. 

\^Queen. But not by him. 

King. Let him demand his fill. 129 

Laer. How came he dead? I'll not be juggled with: 
To hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest devil! 
Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit! 
I dare damnation. To this point I stand. 
That both the worlds I give to negligence. 
Let come what comes; only I'll be revenged 
Most throughly for my father. 

King. Who shall stay you? 

haer. My will, not all the world : 

And for my means, I'll husband them so well. 
They shall go far with little. 

King. Good Laertes, 

If you desire to know the certainty 140 

Of your dear father's death, is't writ in your revenge. 
That, swoopstake, you will draw both friend and foe, 
Winner and loser ? 



^ 



Scene v.] Hamlet I15 

Laer. None but his enemies. 

King. Will you know them then? 

Laer. To his good friends thus wide I'll ope my arms ; 

And like the kind life-rendering pelican, 

Repast them with my blood. 
King. Why, now you speak 

Like a good child and a true gentleman. 

That I am guiltless of your father's death, 

And am most sensibly in grief for it, 150 

It shall as level to your judgment pierce 

As day does to your eye. 
Danes. [Within~\ Let her come in. 

Laer. How now ! what noise is that ? 

Re-enter Ophelia. 

O heat, dry up my brains! tears seven times salt, 
Burn out the sense and virtue of mine eye! 
By heaven, thy madness shall be paid with weight, 
Till our scale turn the beam. O rose of May! 
Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia! 
O heavens! is't possible a young maid's wits 
Should be as mortal as an old man's life? 160 

Nature is fine in love, and where 'tis fine, 
It sends some precious instance of itself 
After the thing it loves. 
Oph. [^Sings^ They bore him barefaced on the bier: 
Hey non nonny, nonny, hey nonny: 
And in his grave rain'd many a tear, — 
Fare you well, my dove ! 



ii6 Hamlet [ActIV. 

Laer. Hadst thou thy wits, and didst persuade revenge, 
It could not move thus. 

Oph. \_Singsl^ You must sing down a-down, 17a 

An you call him a-down-a. 
O, how the wheel becomes it! It is the false 
steward, that stole his master's daughter. 

Laer. This nothing's more than matter. 

Oph. There's rosemary, that's for remembrance: 
pray, love, remember: and there is pansies, that's 
for thoughts. 

Laer. A document in madness, thoughts and re- 
membrance fitted. 

Oph. There's fennel for you, and columbines: 180 
there's rue for you : and here's some for me : 
we may call it herb of grace o' Sundays: O, 
you must wear your rue with a difference. 
There's a daisy: I would give you some violets, 
but they withered all when my father died: 
they say he made a good end, — 
[Sings^ For bonnie sweet Robin is all my joy. 

Laer. Thought and affliction, passion, hell itself. 
She turns to favor and to prettiness. 

Oph. [^Singsl And will he not come again? 190 

And will he not come again? 
No, no, he is dead: 
Go to thy death-bed: 
He never will come again. 

His beard was as white as snow, 
All flaxen was his poll : 



Scene v.] Hamlet 1 1? 

He is gone, he is gone, 
And we cast away moan : 
God ha' mercy on his soul ! 
And of all Christian souls, I pray God. God be 
wi' ye. [Exit. 200 

Laer. Do you see this, O God ? 

King. Laertes, I must commune with your grief, 
Or you deny me right. Go but apart. 
Make choice of whom your wisest friends you will. 
And they shall hear and judge 'twixt you and me: 
If by direct or by collateral hand 
They find us touch'd, we will our kingdom give, 
Our crown, our life, and all that we call ours. 
To you in satisfaction; but if not. 
Be you content to lend your patience to us, 2IQ 

And we shall jointly labor with your soul 
To give it due content. 

Laer. Let this be so ; 

His means of death, his obscure funeral — 

No trophy, sword, nor hatchment o'er his bones, 

No noble rite nor formal ostentation — 

Cry to be heard, as 'twere from heaven to earth, 

That I must call't in question. 

King. So you shall; 

And where the offence is let the great axe fall. 
I pray you, go with me. [Exeunt. 



1 1 8 Hamlet [Act IV. 

Scene VI 

Another room in the castle. 

Enter HoRATio and a Servant. 

Hor. What are they that would speak with me? 

Serv. Sailors, sir: they say they have letters for you. 

Hor. Let them come in. . [^Exit Servant. 

I do not know from what part of the world 
I should be greeted, if not from Lord Hamlet. 

Enter Sailors. 

First Sail. God bless you, sir. 

Hor. Let him bless thee too. 

First Sail. He shall, sir, an't please him. There's 
a letter for you, sir; it comes from the am- 
bassador that was bound for England; if your lO 
name be Horatio, as I am let to know it is. 

Hor. [Reads^^ ' Horatio, when thou shalt have over- 
looked this, give these fellows some means to the 
king: they have letters for him. Ere we were 
two days old at sea, a pirate of very warlike 
appointment gave us chase. Finding ourselves 
too slow of sail, we put on a compelled valor, 
and in the grapple I boarded them : on the instant 
they got clear of our ship ; so I alone became their 
prisoner. They have dealt with me like thieves 20 
of mercy : but they knew what they did ; I am 
to do a good turn for them. Let the king have 



Scene VII.] Hamlet 119 

the letters I have sent; and repair thou to me 
with as much speed as thou wouldest fly death. 
I have words to speak in thine ear will make 
thee dumb; yet are they much too light for the 
bore of the matter. These good fellows will 
bring thee where I am. Rosencrantz and 
Guildenstern hold their course for England: 
of them I have much to tell thee. Farewell. 30 
' He that thou knowest thine, Hamlet.' 

Come, I will make you way for these your letters ; 

And do't the speedier, that you may direct me 

To him from whom you brought them. [Exeunt. 



Scene VH 

Another room in the castle. 

Enter King and Laertes. 

King. Now must your conscience my acquittance seal, 
And you must put me in your heart for friend, 
Sith you have heard, and with a knowing ear, 
That he which hath your noble father slain 
Pursued my life. 

Laer. It well appears: but tell me 

Why you proceeded not against these feats. 
So crimeful and so capital in nature, 
As by your safety, wisdom, all things else, 
You mainly were stirr'd up. 

King. O, for two special reasons, 



I20 Hamlet [ActIV. 

Which may to you, perhaps, seem much unsinew'd, lO 

But yet to me they are strong. The queen his mother 

Lives almost by his looks; and for myself — 

My virtue or my plague, be it either which — 

She's so conjunctive to my life and soul. 

That, as the star moves not but in his sphere, 

I could not but by her. The other motive. 

Why to a public count I might not go, 

Is the great love the general gender bear him; 

Who, dipping all his faults in their affection, 

Would, like the spring that turneth wood to stone. 

Convert his gyves to graces ; so that my arrows, 2 1 

Too slightly timber'd for so loud a wind, 

Would have reverted to my bow again, 

And not where I had aim'd them. 

Laer. And so have I a noble father lost ; 
A sister driven into desperate terms, 
Whose worth, if praises may go back again, 
Stood challenger on mount of all the age 
For her perfections: but my revenge will come. 

King. Break not your sleeps for that : you must not think 
That we are made of stuff so flat and dull 31 

That we can let our beard be shook with danger 
And think it pastime. You shortly shall hear more: 
I loved your father, and we love ourself; 
And that, I hope, will teach you to imagine — 

Enter a Messenger, with letters. 

How now! what news? 
Mess. Letters, my lord, from Hamlet: 



Scene VII.] Hamlet 1 2 1 

This to your majesty; this to the queen. 
King. From Hamlet! who brought them? 
Mess. Sailors, my lord, they say; I saw them not: 39 

They were given me by Claudio; he received them 

Of him that brought them. 
King. . Laertes, you shall hear them. 

Leave us. \^Exit Messenger. 

[Reads} ' High and mighty. You shall know I am 

ret naked on your kingdom. To-morrow 

shall I beg leave to see your kingly eyes: 

when I shall, first asking your pardon there- 
unto, recount the occasion of my sudden and 

more strange return. 

* Hamlet.' 

What should this mean ? Are all the rest come back ? 

Or is it some abuse, and no such thing? 51 

Laer. Know you the hand? 
King. 'Tis Hamlet's character. 'Naked'! 

And in a postscript here, he says ' alone.' 

Can you advise me? 
Laer. I'm lost in it, my lord. But let him come; 

It warms the very sickness in my heart. 

That I shall live and tell him to his teeth, 

* Thus didest thou.' 
King. If it be so, Laertes, — 

As how should it be so ? how otherwise ? — 

Will you be ruled by me ? 
Laer. Ay, my lord ; 60 

So you will not o'errule me to a peace. 
King. To thine own peace. If he be now return'd. 



122 Hamlet [ActIV. 

As checking at his voyage, and that he means 
No more to undertake it, I will work him 
To an exploit, now ripe in my device, 
Under the which he shall not choose but fall : 
And for his death no wind of blame shall breathe, 
But even his mother shall uncharge the practice 
And call it accident. 

Laer, My lord, I will be ruled ; 

The rather, if you could devise it so 70 

That I might be the organ. 

Kins. It falls right. 

You have been talk'd of since your travel much, 
And that in Hamlet's hearing, for a quality 
Wherein, they say, you shine: your sum of parts 
Did not together pluck such envy from him 
As did that one, and that, in my regard, 
Of the unworthiest siege. 

Laer. What part is that, my lord ? 

King. A very riband in the cap of youth. 

Yet needful too ; for youth no less becomes 

The light and careless livery that it wears 80 

Than settled age his sables and his weeds. 

Importing health and graveness. Two months since. 

Here was a gentleman of Normandy: — 

I've seen myself, and served against, the French, 

And they can well on horseback : but this gallant 

Had witchcraft in't; he grew unto his seat. 

And to such wondrous doing brought his horse. 

As had he been incorpsed and demi-natured 

With the brave beast: so far he topp'd my thought, 



Scene VII.] Hamlet 123 

That I, in forgery of shapes and tricks, go 

Come short of what he did. 
Laer. A Norman was't? 

King. A Norman. 
Laer. Upon my life, Lamond. 
King. The very same. 

Laer. I know him well : he is the brooch indeed 

And gem of all the nation. 
King. He made confession of you, 

And gave you such a masterly report 

For art and exercise in your defence, 

And for your rapier most especial, 

That he cried out, 'twould be a sight indeed lOO 

If one could match you: the scrimers of their 
nation. 

He swore, had neither motion, guard, nor eye. 

If you opposed them. Sir, this report of his 

Did Hamlet so envenom with his envy 

That he could nothing do but wish and beg 

Your sudden coming o'er, to play with him. 

Now, out of this — 
Laer. What out of this, my lord? 

King. Laertes, was your father dear to you? 

Or are you like the painting of a sorrow, 

A face without a heart? 
Laer. Why ask you this? no 

King. Not that I think you did not love your father, 

But that I know love is begun by time, 

And that I see, in passages of proof. 

Time qualifies the spark and fire of it. 



124 Hamlet [Acxiv. 

There lives within the very flame of love 
A kind of wick or snuff that will abate it ; 
And nothing is at a like goodness still; 
For goodness, growing to a plurisy, 
Dies in his own too much: that we would do, 
We should do when we would ; for this * would ' 
changes I20 

And hath abatements and delays as many 
As there are tongues, are hands, are accidents; 
And then this ' should ' is like a spendthrift sigh. 
That hurts by easing. But, to the quick o' the 

ulcer : — 
Hamlet comes back: what would you undertake, 
To show yourself your father's son in deed 
More than in words? 

Laer. To cut his throat i' the church. 

King. No place, indeed, should murder sanctuarize; 

Revenge should have no bounds. But, good 

Laertes, 
Will you do this, keep close within your chamber. 
Hamlet return'd shall know you are come hom.e: 131 
We'll put on those shall praise your excellence 
And set a double varnish on the fame 
The Frenchman gave you, bring you in fine together 
And wager on your heads: he, being remiss, 
Most generous and free from all contriving, 
Will not peruse the foils, so that, with ease. 
Or with a little shuffling, you may choose 
A sword unbated, and in a pass of practice 
Requite him for your father. 



Scene VII.] Hamlet 1 25 

Laer. I will do't; 140 

And for that purpose I'll anoint my sword. 
I bought an unction of a mountebank, 
So mortal that, but dip a knife in it. 
Where it draws blood no cataplasm so rare, 
Collected from all simples that have virtue 
Under the moon, can save the thing from death 
That is but scratch'd withal: I'll touch my point 
With this contagion, that, if I gall him slightly, 
It may be death. 

King. Let's further think of this; 

Weigh what convenience both of time and means 150 

May fit us to our shape : if this should fail, 

And that our drift look through our bad performance, 

'Twere better not assay'd: therefore this project 

Should have a back or second, that might hold 

If this did blast in proof. Soft! let me see: 

We'll make a solemn wager on your cunnings: 

I ha't: 

When in your motion you are hot and dry — 

As make your bouts more violent to that end — 

And that he calls for drink, I'll have prepared him 

A chalice for the nonce, whereon but sipping, 161 

If he by chance escape your venom'd stuck. 

Our purpose may hold there. 

Enter Queen. 

How now, sweet queen! 
Queen. One woe doth tread upon another's heel. 

So fast they follow : your sister's drown'd, Laertes. 



126 Hamlet [Act IV. 

Laer. Drown'd! O, where? 

Queen. There is a willow grows aslant a brook, 

That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream ; 

There with fantastic garlands did she come 

Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples 

That liberal shepherds give a grosser name, 171 

But our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them : 

There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds 

Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke; 

When down her weedy trophies and herself 

Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide, 

And, mermaid-like, a while they bore her up: 

Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes. 

As one incapable of her own distress. 

Or like a creature native and indued 180 

Unto that element: but long it could not be 

Till that her garments, heavy with their drink, 

Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay 

To muddy death. 

Laer. Alas, then, she is drown'd? 

Queen. Drown'd, drown'd. 

Laer. Too much of water hast thou, poor Ophelia, 
And therefore I forbid my tears: but yet 
It is our trick ; nature her custom holds. 
Let shame say what it will: when these are gone. 
The woman will be out. Adieu, my lord: 190 

I have a speech of fire that fain would blaze. 
But that this folly douts it. [Exit. 

King. Let's follow, Gertrude: 

How much I had to do to calm his rage ! 



Scene!.] Hamlet 1 27 

Now fear I this will give it start again ; 

Therefore let's follow. [Exeunt. 



ACT FIFTH 

Scene I 
A churchyard. 

Enter two Clowns, with spades, &'c. 

First Clo. Is she to be buried in Christian burial 
that wilfully seeks her own salvation ? 

Sec. Clo. I tell thee she is; and therefore make her 
grave straight: the crowner hath sat on her, 
and finds it Christian burial. 

First Clo. How can that be, unless she drowned her- 
self in her own defence? 

Sec. Clo. Why, 'tis found so. 

First Clo. It must be ' se offendendo ' ; it cannot be 

else. For here lies the point: if I drown 10 
myself wittingly, it argues an act: and an act 
hath three branches; it is, to act, to do, and to 
perform: argal, she drowned herself wittingly. 

Sec. Clo. Nay, but hear you, goodman 
delver, — 

First Clo. Give me leave. Here lies the water; 
good: here stands the man; good: if the man 
go to this water and drown himself, it is, will 



128 Hamlet [Act v. 

he, nill he, he goes; mark you that; but If the 
water come to him and drown him, he drowns 20 
not himself: argal, he that is not guilty of his 
ow^n death shortens not his own life. 

Sec. Clo. But Is this law? 

First Clo. Ay, marry, Is't; crowner's quest 
law. 

Sec. Clo. Will you ha' the truth on't? If this had 
not been a gentlewoman, she should have been 
buried out 0' Christian burial. 

First Clo. Why, there thou say'st: and the more 

pity that great folk should have countenance in 30 
this world to drown or hang themselves, more 
than their even Christian. Come, my spade. 
There is no ancient gentlemen but gardeners, 
ditchers, and grave-makers: they hold up 
Adam's profession. 

Sec. Clo. Was he a gentleman? 

First Clo. A' was the first that ever bore 
arms. 

Sec. Clo. Why, he had none. 

First Clo. What, art a heathen? How dost thou 40 
understand the Scripture? The Scripture says 
Adam digged: could he dig without arms? 
I'll put another question to thee: if thou an- 
swerest me not to the purpose, confess thyself — 

Sec. Clo. Go to. 

First Clo. What Is he that builds stronger than 
either the mason, the shipwright, or the 
carpenter ? 



Scene!.] Hamlet 1 29 

Sec. Clo. The gallows-maker; for that frame out- 
lives a thousand tenants. 50 

First Clo. I like thy wit well, in good faith: the 
gallows does well; but how does it well? it 
does well to those that do ill: now, thou dost 
ill to say the gallows is built stronger than the 
church: argal, the gallows may do well to thee. 
To't again, come. 

Sec. Clo. ' Who builds stronger than a mason, a ship- 
wright, or a carpenter? ' 

First Clo. Ay, tell me that, and unyoke. 

Sec. Clo. Marry, now I can tell. 60 

First Clo. To't. 

Sec. Clo. Mass, I cannot tell. 

Enter Hamlet afid Horatio^ afar off. 

First Clo. Cudgel thy brains no more about it, for 
your dull ass will not mend his pace with 
beating; and when you are asked this question 
next, say ' a grave-maker ' : the houses that he 
makes last till doomsday. Go, get thee to 
Yaughan; fetch me a stoup of liquor. 

l^Exit Sec. Clown. 
[He digs, and sings. 
In youth, when I did love, did love, 

Methought it was very sweet, 70 

To contract, O, the time, for-a my behove, 
O, methought, there was nothing meet. 
Ham. Has this fellow no feeling of his business, that 
he sings at grave-making? 



130 Hamlet [ActV. 

Hor. Custom hath made it in him a property of 
easiness. 

Ham. 'Tis e'en so: the hand of little employment 
hath the daintier sense. 

First Clo. [Sings^ But age, with his stealing steps, 

Hath claw'd me in his clutch, 80 

And hath shipped me intil the land, 
As if I had never been such. 

[Throws up a skull. 

Ham. That skull had a tongue in it, and could sing 
once: how the knave jowls it to the ground, as 
if it were Cain's jaw-bone, that did the first 
murder! It might be the pate of a politician, 
which this ass now o'er- reaches; one that 
would circumvent God, might it not? 

Hor. It might, my lord. 

Ham. Or of a courtier, which could say * Good go 
morrow, sweet lord! How dost thou, sweet 
lord ? ' This might be my lord such-a-one, 
that praised my lord such-a-one's horse, when 
he meant to beg it; might it not? 

Hor. Ay, my lord. 

Ham. Why, e'en so: and now my Lady Worm's; 
chapless, and knocked about the mazzard with 
a sexton's spade: here's fine revolution, an we 
had the trick to see't. Did these bones cost 
no more the breeding, but to play at loggats 100 
with 'em? mine ache to think on't. 

First Clo. [^Sings^ A pick-axe, and a spade, a spade, 
For and a shrouding sheet : 



Scene!.] Hamlet I31 

O, a pit of clay for to be made 
For such a guest Is meet. 

{^Throws up another skull. 

Ham. There's another: why may not that be the 
skull of a lawyer ? Where be his quiddities now, 
his quillets, his cases, his tenures, and his tricks? 
why does he suffer this rude knave now to knock 
him about the sconce with a dirty shovel, and no 
will not tell him of his action of battery ? Hum ! 
This fellow might be in's time a gre-at buyer 
of land, with his statutes, his recognizances, his 
fines, his double vouchers, his recoveries: is this 
the fine of his fines and the recovery of his 
recoveries, to have his fine pate full of fine dirt ? 
will his vouchers vouch him no more of his pur- 
chases, and double ones too, than the length and 
breadth of a pair of indentures? The very con- 
veyances of his lands will hardly lie in this box; 120 
and must the inheritor himself have no more, ha? 

Hor. Not a jot more, my lord. 

Ham. Is not parchment made of sheep-skins? 

Hor. Ay, my lord, and of calf-skins too. 

Ham. They are sheep and calves which seek out 
assurance in that. I will speak to this fellow. 
Whose grave's this, sirrah? 

First Clo. Mine, sir. 

[Sings^ O, a pit of clay for to be made 

For such a guest is meet. 130 

Ham. I think it be thine indeed, for thou liest 
in't. 



132 Hamlet [Act v. 

First Clo. You lie out on't, sir, and therefore 'tis 
not yours: for my part, I do not lie in't, and 
yet it is mine. 

Ham. Thou dost lie in't, to be in't and say it is 
thine: 'tis for the dead, not for the quick; 
therefore thou liest. 

First Clo. 'Tis a quick lie, sir; 'twill away again, 

from me to you. 140 

Ham. What man dost thou dig it for? 

First Clo. For no man, sir. 

Ham. What woman, then? 

First Clo. For none, neither. 

Ham. Who is to be buried in't? 

First Clo. One that was a woman, sir; but, rest her 
soul, she's dead. 

Ham. How absolute the knave is! we must speak 
by the card, or equivocation will undo us. By 
the Lord, Horatio, these three years I have 150 
taken note of it; the age is grown so picked 
that the toe of the peasant comes so near the heel 
of the courtier, he galls his kibe. How long 
hast thou been a grave-maker? 

First Clo. Of all the days i' the 5^ear, I came to't 
that day that our last king Hamlet o'ercame 
Fortinbras. 

Ham. How" long is that since? 

First Clo. Cannot you tell that? every fool can 

tell that: it was that very day that young 160 
Hamlet was born : he that is mad, and sent into 
England. 



Scene!.] Hamlet 133 

Ham, Ay, marry, why was he sent Into Eng- 
land? 
First Clo. Why, because he was mad; he shall 

recover his wits there; or, if he do not, 'tis no 

great matter there. 
Ham. Why? 
First Clo. 'Twill not be seen in him there; there 

the men are as mad as he. 170 

Ham. How came he mad? 
First Clo. Very strangely, they say. 
Ham. How ' strangely ' ? 
First Clo. Faith, e'en with losing his wits. 
Ham. Upon what ground? 
First Clo. Why, here in Denmark: I have been 

sexton here, man and boy, thirty years. 
Ham. How long will a man lie i' the earth ere he 

rot? 
First Clo. V faith, if he be not rotten before he die, 180 

he will last you some eight year or nine year: a 

tanner will last you nine year. 
Ham. Why he more than another? 
First Clo. Why, sir, his hide is so tanned with his 

trade that he will keep out water a great while ; 

and your water is a sore decayer of your 

whoreson dead body. Here's a skull now: 

this skull has lain in the earth three and twenty 190 

years. 
Ham. Whose was it? 
First Clo. A whoreson mad fellow's it was: whose 

do you think it was? 



134 Hamlet [Act v. 

Ham. Nay, I know not. 

First Clo. A pestilence on him for a mad rogue! he 
poured a flagon of Rhenish on my head once. 
This same skull, sir, was Yorick's skull, the 
king's jester. 

Ham. This? 200 

First Clo. E'en that. 

Ham. Let me see. {^Takes the skull.^ Alas, poor 
Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of 
infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath 
borne me on his back a thousand times; and 
now how abhorred in my imagination it is! my 
gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I 
have kissed I know not how oft. Where be 
your gibes now? your gambols? your songs? 
your flashes of merriment, that were wont to 210 
set the table on a roar? Not one now, to 
mock your own grinning? quite chap-fallen? 
Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell 
her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favor 
she must come; make her laugh at that. 
Prithee, Horatio, tell me one thing. 

Hor. What's that, my lord? 

Ham. Dost thou think Alexander looked o' this 
fashion i' the earth? 

Hor. E'en so. 220 

Ham. And smelt so ? pah ! [Puts down the skull. 

Hor. E'en so, my lord. 

Ham. To what base uses we may return, Horatio! 
Why may not imagination trace the noble dust 



Scene!.] Hamlet 135 

of Alexander, till he find it stopping a bung- 
hole? 

Hor. 'Twere to consider too curiously, to consider 
so. 

Ham. No, faith, not a jot; but to follow him thither 

with modesty enough and likelihood to lead 230 
it: as thus: Alexander died, Alexander was 
buried, Alexander returneth into dust; the 
dust is earth; of earth we make loam; and 
why of that loam, whereto he was converted, 
might they not stop a beer-barrel? 
Imperious Caesar, dead and turn'd to clay, 
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away: 
O, that that earth, which kept the world in awe, 
Should patch a wall to expel the winter's flaw ! 
But soft! but soft! aside: here comes the king. 240 

Enter Priests, &c, in procession; the Corpse of Ophelia, 
Laertes and Mourners following; King, Queen^ 
their trains, &'c. 

The queen, the courtiers : who is this they follow ? 

And with such maimed rites? This doth betoken 

The corse they follow did with desperate hand 

Fordo it own life: 'twas of somie estate. 

Couch we awhile, and mark. [Retiring with Horatio. 
Laer. What ceremony else? 

Ham. That is Laertes, a very noble youth: mark. 
Laer. What ceremony else? 
First Priest. Her obsequies have been as far enlarged 

As we have warranty : her death was doubtful ; 250 



136 Hamlet [Act v. 

And, but that great command o'ersways the order, 
She should in ground unsanctified have lodged 
Till the last trumpet ; for charitable prayers, 
Shards, flints and pebbles should be thrown on her: 
Yet here she is allow'd her virgin crants, 
Her maiden strewments and the bringing home 
Of bell and burial. 

Laer. Must there no more be done? 

First Priest. No more be done : 

We should profane the service of the dead 
To sing a requiem and such rest to her 260 

As to peace-parted souls. 

Laer. Lay her i' the earth : 

And from her fair and unpolluted flesh 
May violets spring! I tell thee, churlish priest, 
A ministering angel shall my sister be. 
When thou liest howling. 

Ham. What, the fair Ophelia! 

^ Queen. [Scattering flowers~\ Sweets to the sweet: fare- 
well ! 
I hoped thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife ; 
I thought thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid, 
And not have strew'd thy grave. 

Laer. O, treble woe 

Fall ten times treble on that cursed head 270 

Whose wicked deed thy most ingenious sense 
Deprived thee of! Hold off the earth a while, 
Till I have caught her once more in mine arms: 

[Leaps into the grave. 
Now pile your dust upon the quick and dead, 



Scene I.] Hamlet 137 

Till of this flat a mountain you have made 
To o'ertop old Pelion, or the skyish head 
Of blue Olympus. 

Ham. [Advancing'] What is he whose grief 

Bears such an emphasis? whose phrase of sorrow 
Conjures the wandering stars and makes them 

stand 
Like wonder-wounded hearers? This is I, 280 

Hamlet the Dane. [Leaps into the grave. 

Laer. The devil take thy soul! [Grappling with him. 

Ham. Thou pray'st not well. 

I prithee, take thy fingers from my throat ; 
For, though I am not splenitive and rash, 
Yet have I in me something dangerous. 
Which let thy wiseness fear. Hold off thy hand. 

King. Pluck them asunder. 
\ Queen. Hamlet, Hamlet! 

All. Gentlemen, — 

Hor. Good my lord, be quiet. 

[The Attendants part them, and they 
come out of the grave. 

Ham. Why, I will fight with him upon this theme 

Until my eyelids will no longer wag. 290 

\Queen. O my son, what theme? 

Ham. I loved Ophelia: forty thousand brothers 
Could not, with all their quantity of love, 
Make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her? 

King. O, he is mad, Laertes. 

Queen. For love of God, forbear him. 

Ham. 'Swounds, show me what thou'lt do : 



^- 



138 Hamlet [ActV. 

Woo't weep? woo't fight? woo't fast? woo't 
tear thyself? 

Woo't drink up eisel? eat a crocodile? 

I'll do't. Dost thou come here to whine? 300 

To outface me with leaping in her grave? 

Be buried quick with her, and so will I: 

And, if thou prate of mountains, let them throw 

Millions of acres on us, till our ground, 
Singeing his pate against the burning zone. 

Make Ossa like a wart ! Nay, an thou'lt mouth, 

I'll rant as well as thou. 
Queen. This is mere madness : 

And thus a while the fit will work on him ; 

Anon, as patient as the female dove, 

When that her golden couplets are disclosed, 310 

His silence will sit drooping. 
Ham. Hear you, sir; 

What is the reason that you use me thus? 

I loved you ever: but it is no matter; 

Let Hercules himself do what he may. 

The cat will mew, and dog will have his day. \^Exit. 
King. I pray thee, good Horatio, wait upon him. 

[^Exit Horatio. 

[To Laertes^ Strengthen your patience in our last 
night's speech; 

We'll put the matter to the present push. 

Good Gertrude, set some watch over your son. 

This grave shall have a living monument: 320 

An hour of quiet shortly shall we see; 

Till then, in patience our proceeding be. [Exeunt. 



Scene II.] Hamlet 139 

Scene II 
A hall in the castle. 

Enter Hamlet and Horatio. 

Ham. So much for this, sir: now shall you see the other; 
You do remember all the circumstance? 

Hor. Remember it, my lord! 

Ham. Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting, 
That would not let me sleep : methought I lay 
Worse than the mutines in the bilboes. Rashly, — 
And praised be rashness for it, let us know, 
Our indiscretion sometime serves us well 
When our deep plots do pall; and that should teach 

"f . . . / 

There's a divinity that shapes our ends, 10 

Rough-hew them how we will, — 

Hor. That is most certain. 

Ham. Up from my cabin. 

My sea-gown scarf'd about me, in the dark 

Groped I to find out them ; had my desire, 

Finger'd their packet, and in fine withdrew 

To mine own room again; making so bold, 

My fears forgetting manners, to unseal 

Their grand commission; where I found, Horatio, — 

O royal knavery! — an exact command, 

Larded with many several sorts of reasons 20 

Importing Denmark's health and England's too, 

With, ho ! such bugs and goblins in my life, 



140 Hamlet [Act v. 

That, on the supervise, no leisure bated, 
No, not to stay the grinding of the axe. 
My head should be struck off. 

Hor. Is't possible? 

Ham. Here's the commission: read it at more leisure. 
But wilt thou hear me how I did proceed ? 

Hor. I beseech you. 

Ham. Being thus be-netted round with villanies, — 

Ere I could make a prologue to my brains, 30 

They had begun the play, — I sat me down. 

Devised a new commission ; wrote it fair : 

I once did hold it, as our statists do, 

A baseness to write fair, and labor'd much 

How to forget that learning; but, sir, now 

It did me yeoman's service: wilt thou know 

The eflEect of what I wrote ? 

Hor. Ay, good my lord. 

Ham. An earnest conjuration from the king. 
As England was his faithful tributary, 
As love between them like the palm might flourish, 
As peace should still her wheaten garland wear 41 
And stand a comma 'tween their amities, 
And many such-like 'As'es of great charge, 
That, on the view and knowing of these contents, 
Without debatement further, more or less. 
He should the bearers put to sudden death. 
Not shriving-time allow'd. 

Hor. How was this seal'd ? 

Ham. Why, even in that was heaven ordinant. 
I had my father's signet in my purse, 



Scene IL] Hamlet 14I 

Which was the model of that Danish seal : 50 

Folded the writ up in form of the other [ 
Subscribed it, gave't the Impression, placed It 

safely, 
The changeling never known. Now, the next day 
Was our sea-fight ; and what to this was sequent 
Thou know'st already. 

Hor. So Guildenstern and Rosencrantz go to't. 

Ham. Why, man, they did make love to this employ- 
ment ; 
They are not near my conscience ; their defeat 
Does by their own insinuation grow: 
'TIs dangerous when the baser nature comes 60 

Between the pass and fell Incensed points 
Of mighty opposltes. 

Hor. Why, what a king is this! 

Ham. Does It not, thinks't thee, stand me now upon — 
He that hath kill'd my king and whored my mother, 
Popp'd in between the election and my hopes. 
Thrown out his angle for my proper life. 
And with such cozenage — is't not perfect conscience, 
To quit him with this arm? and Is't not to be 

damn'd. 
To let this canker of our nature come 
In further evil? 7^ 

Hor. It must be shortly known to him from England 
What Is the Issue of the business there. 

Ham. It will be short: the Interim is mine; 

And a man's life's no more than to say ' One.' 
But I am very sorry, good Horatio, 



142 Hamlet [ActV. 

That to Laertes I forgot myself; 
For, by the Image of my cause, I see 
The portraiture of his: I'll court his favors: 
But, sure, the bravery of his grief did put me 
Into a towering passion. 
Hor. Peace! who comes here? 80 

Enter OsRiC. 

Osr. Your lordship is right welcome back to Den- 
mark. 

Ham. I humbly thank you, sir. Dost know this 
water-fly ? 

Hor. No, my good lord. 

Ham. Thy state Is the more gracious, for 'tis a vice 
to know him. He hath much land, and fertile: 
let a beast be lord of beasts, and his crib shall 
stand at the king's mess: 'tis a chough, but, as 
I say, spacious In the possession of dirt. 90 

Osr. Sweet lord, if your lordship were at leisure, 
I should impart a thing to you from his 
majesty. 

Ham. I will receive it, sir, with all diligence of 
spirit. Put your bonnet to his right use; 'tis 
for the head. 

Osr. I thank your lordship, It is very hot. 

Ham. No, believe me, 'tis very cold; the wind is 
northerly. 

Osr. It Is indifferent cold, my lord. Indeed. lOO 

Ham. But yet methinks it Is very sultry and hot for 
my complexion. 



Scene II.] Hamlet I43 

Osr. Exceedingly, my lord; it is very sultry, — as 
'twere, — I cannot tell how. But, my lord, his 
majesty bade me signify to you that he has laid 
a great wager on your head: sir, this is the 
matter — 

Ham. I beseech you, remember — 

[^Hamlet moves hi?n to put on his hat. 

Osr. Nay, good my lord; for mine ease, in good 

faith. Sir, here is newly come to court Laertes; no 
believe me, an absolute gentleman, full of most 
excellent differences, of very soft society and 
great showing: indeed, to speak feelingly of 
him, he is the card or calendar of gentry, for you 
shall find in him the continent of what part a 
gentleman would see. 

Ham. Sir, his definement suffers no perdition in 
you ; though, I know, to divide him inventor- 
ially would dizzy the arithmetic of memory, and 
yet but yaw neither, in respect of his quick sail. 120 
But, in the verity of extolment, I take him to be 
a soul of great article; and his infusion of such 
dearth and rareness, as, to make true diction of 
him, his semblable is his mirror; and who else 
would trace him, his umbrage, nothing more. 

Osr. Your lordship speaks most infallibly of 
him. 

Ham. The concernancy, sir? why do we wrap 
the gentleman in our more rawer breath? 

Osr. Sir? 130 



144 Hamlet [Act v. 

Hor. Is't not possible to understand In another 
tongue? You will do't, sir, really. 

Ham. What Imports the nomination of this gentle- 
man? 

Osr. Of Laertes? 

Hor. His purse Is empty already; all's golden 
words are spent. 

Ham. Of him, sir. 

Osr. I know you are not Ignorant — 

Ham. I would you did, sir; yet, in faith. If you 140 
did, It would not much approve me. Well, 
sir? 

Osr. You are not ignorant of what excellence 
Laertes is — 

Ham. I dare not confess that, lest I should compare 
with him in excellence; but, to know a man 
well, were to know himself. 

Osr. I mean, sir, for his weapon; but in the im- 
putation laid on him by them. In his meed he's 
unfellowed. 150 

Ham. What's his weapon? 

Osr. Rapier and dagger. 

Ham. That's two of his weapons: but, well. 

Osr. The king, sir, hath wagered with him six 
Barbary horses: against the which he has Im- 
poned, as I take it, six French rapiers and 
poniards, with their assigns, as girdle, hangers, 
and so : three of the carriages, In faith, are very 
dear to fancy, very responsive to the hilts, most 
delicate carriages, and of very liberal conceit. 160 



Scene II.] Hamlet 1 45 

Ham. What call you the carriages? 

Hor. I knew you must be edified by the margent 
ere you had done. 

Osr. The carriages, sir, are the hangers. 

Ham. The phrase would be more germane to the 
matter, if we could carry a cannon by our sides: 
I would it might be hangers till then. But, 
on: six Barbary horses against six French 
swords, their assigns, and three liberal-conceited 
carriages; that's the French bet against the 170 
Danish. Why is this ' imponed,' as you call it? 

Osr. The king, sir, hath laid, that in a dozen 
passes between yourself and him, he shall not 
exceed you three hits: he hath laid on twelve 
for nine; and it would come to immediate trial, 
if your lordship would vouchsafe the answer. 

Ham. How if I answer ' no ' ? 

Osr. I mean, my lord, the opposition of your person 
in trial. 

Ham. Sir, I will walk here in the hall: if it please 180 
his majesty, 'tis the breathing time of day with 
me; let the foils be brought, the gentleman 
willing, and the king hold his purpose, I will 
win for him an I can ; if not, I will gain noth- 
ing but my shame and the odd hits. 

Osr. Shall I re-deliver you e'en so? 

Ham. To this effect, sir; after what flourish your 
nature will. 

Osr. I commend my duty to your lordship. 

Ham.^ Yours, yours. \_Exit Osric.^ He does well 190 



146 Hamlet [ActV. 

to commend it himself; there are no tongues 
else for's turn. 

Hor. This lapwing runs away with the shell on his 
head. 

Ham. He did comply with his dug before he sucked 
it. Thus has he — and many more of the same 
breed that I know the drossy age dotes on — 
only got the tune of the time and outward habit 
of encounter; a kind of yesty collection, which 
carries them through and through the most fond 200 
and winnowed opinions; and do but blow them 
to their trial, the bubbles are out. 

Enter a Lord. 

Lord. My lord, his majesty commended him to you 
by young Osric, who brings back to him, that 
you attend him in the hall: he sends to know 
if your pleasure hold to play with Laertes, or 
that you will take longer time. 

Ham. I am constant to my purposes; they follow 
the king's pleasure: if his fitness speaks, mine 
is ready; now or whensoever, provided I be so 210 
able as now. 

Lord. The king and queen and all are coming 
down. 

Ham. In happy time. 

Lord. The queen desires you to use some gentle 
entertainment to Laertes before you fall to 
play. 



Scene II.] Hamlet 147 

• 

Ham. She well instructs me. [^Exit Lord. 

Hor. You will lose this wager, my lord. 

Ham. I do not think so; since he went into France, 220 
I have been in continual practice; I shall win 
at the odds. But thou wouldst not think how ill 
all's here about my heart : but it is no matter. 

Hor. Nay, good my lord, — 

Ham. It is but foolery ; but it is such a kind of gain- 
giving, as would perhaps trouble a woman. 

Hor. If your mind dislike any thing, obey it. I will 
forestal their repair hither, and say you are not 
fit. 

Ham. Not a whit ; we defy augury : there's a special 230 
providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 
'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be 
now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the 
readiness is all ; since no man has aught of what 
he leaves, what is't to leave betimes? 

Enter King, Queen, Laertes, and Lords, Osric and 
other Attendants with foils and gauntlets; a table 
and flagons of wine on it. 

King. Come, Hamlet, .come, and take this hand from me. 

[^The King puts Laertes' hand into Hamlefs. 

Ham. Give me your pardon, sir: I've done you wrong; 

But pardon't, as you are a gentleman. 

This presence knows. 

And you must needs have heard, how I am punish'd 

With sore distraction. What I have done, 241 



148 ' Hamlet [ActV. 

That might your nature, honor and exception 

Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness. 

Was't Hamlet wrong'd Laertes? Never Hamlet: 

H Hamlet from himself be ta'en away, 

And when he's not himself does wrong Laertes, 

Then Hamlet does it not, Hamlet denies it. 

Who does it, then? His madness: if't be so, 

Hamlet is of the faction that is wrong'd ; 

His madness is poor Hamlet's enemy. 250 

Sir, in this audience. 

Let my disclaiming from a purposed evil 

Free me so far in your most generous thoughts, 

That I have shot mine arrow o'er the house. 

And hurt my brother. 

Laer. I am- satisfied in nature. 

Whose motive, in this case, should stir me most 
To my revenge: but in my terms of honor 
I stand aloof, and will no reconcilement. 
Till by some elder masters of known honor 
I have a voice and precedent of peace, 260 

To keep my name ungored. But till that time, 
I do receive your offer'd love like love. 
And will not wrong it. 

Ham. I embrace it freely, 

And will this brother's wager frankly play. 
Give us the foils. Come on. 

Laer. Come, one for me. 

Ham. I'll be your foil, Laertes: in mine ignorance 
Your skill shall, like a star i' the darkest night, 
Stick fiery off indeed. 



Scene II.] Hamlet 1 49 

Laer. You mock me, sir. 

Ham. No, by this hand. 

King. Give them the foils, young Osric. Cousin Hamlet, 
You know the wager ? 

Ham. Very well, my lord; 271 

Your grace has laid the odds o' the weaker side. 

King. I do not fear it ; I have seen you both : 

But since he is better'd, we have therefore odds. 

Laer. This is too heavy ; let me see another. 

Ham. This likes mt well. These foils have all a length ? 

{^They prepare to play. 

Osr. Ay, my good lord. 

King. Set me the stoups of wine upon that table. 
If Hamlet give the first or second hit. 
Or quit in answer of the third exchange, 280 

Let all the battlements their ordnance fire ; 
The king shall drink to Hamlet's better breath ; 
And in the cup an union shall he throw. 
Richer than that which four successive kings 
In Denmark's crown have worn. Give me the cups ; 
And let the kettle to the trumpet speak. 
The trumpet to the cannoneer without. 
The cannons to the heavens, the heaven to earth, 
* Now the king drinks to Hamlet.' Come, begin; 
And you, the judges, bear a wary eye. 290 

Ham. Come on, sir. 

Laer. Come, my lord. [_They play. 

Ham. One. 

Laer. No. 

Ham. Judgment. 



150 Hamlet [ActV. 

Osr. A hit, a very palpable hit. 
Laer. Well ; again. 

King. Sta)s- give me drink. Hamlet, this pearl is thine; 
Here's to thy health. 

{Trumpets sounds and cannon shot off within. 
Give him the cup. 
Ham. I'll play this bout first; set it by a while. 

Come. [They play.] Another hit; w^hat say you? 
Laer. A touch, a touch, I do confess. 
King. Our son shall win. 
' . Queen. He's fat and scant of breath. 

Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows: 
The queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet. 300 

Ham. Good madam ! 

King. Gertrude, do not drink. 

\Queen. I will, my lord ; I pray you, pardon me. 
King. [Aside] It is the poison'd cup ; it is too late. 
Ham. I dare not drink yet, madam ; by and by. 
' Queen. Come, let me wipe thy face. 
Laer. My lord, I'll hit him now. 
King. I do not think't. 

Laer. [Aside'\ And yet 'tis almost 'gainst my conscience. 
Ham. Come, for the third, Laertes: you but dally; 
I pray you, pass with your best violence ; 
I am afeard you make a wanton of me. 310 

Laer. Say you so? come on. [They play. 

Osr. Nothing, neither way. 
Laer. Have at you now ! 

[Laertes wounds Hamlet; then, in scuffling, they 
change rapiers, and Hamlet wounds Laertes. 



Scene II.] Hamlet 151 

King. Part them ; they are incensed. 

Ham, Nay, come, again. [The Queen falls. 

Osr. Look to the queen there, ho ! 

Hor. They bleed on both sides. How is it, my lord ? 
Osr. How is't, Laertes? 
Laer. Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric; 

I am justly kill'd with mine own treachery. 
Ham. How does the queen? 

King. She swounds to see them bleed. 

\ Queen. No, no, the drink, the drink, — O my dear 

Hamlet, — 320 

The drink, the drink ! I am poison'd. [^Dies. 

Ham. O villany ! Ho ! let the door be lock'd : 

Treachery! seek it out. [Laertes falls. 

Laer. It is here, Hamlet : Hamlet, thou art slain ; 

No medicine in the world can do thee good ; 

In thee there is not half an hour of life; 

The treacherous instrument is in thy hand, 

Unbated and envenom'd : the foul practice 

Hath turn'd itself on me; lo, here I lie, 

Never to rise again: thy mother's poison'd: 330 

I can no more : the king, the king's to blame. 
Ham. The point envenom'd too! 

Then, venom, to thy work. [Stabs the King. 

All. Treason! treason! 

King. O, yet defend me, friends; I am but hurt. 
Ham. Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane, 

Drink off this potion. Is thy union here? 

Follow my mother. [King dies. 

Laer. He is justly served; 



152 Hamlet [Act v. 

It is a poison temper'd by himself. 

Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet: 340 

Mine and my father's death come not upon thee, 

Nor thine on me ! [Dies. 

Ham. Heaven make thee free of it ! I follow thee. 

I am dead, Horatio. Wretched queen, adieu! 

You that look pale and tremble at this chance, 

That are but mutes or audience to this act. 

Had I but time — as this fell sergeant, death, 

Is strict in his arrest — O, I could tell you — 

But let it be. Horatio, I am dead ; 

Thou livest ; report me and my cause aright 356 

To the unsatisfied. 
Hor. Never believe it: 

I am more an antique Roman than a Dane: 

Here's yet some liquor left. 
Ham. As thou'rt a man, 

Give me the cup: let go; by heaven, I'll have't. 

O good Horatio, what a wounded name. 

Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me ! 

If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, 

Absent thee from felicity a while. 

And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain, 

To tell my story. [March afar offj and shot within. 

What warlike noise is this? 360 

Osr. Young Fortinbras, with conquest come from Poland, 

To the ambassadors of England gives 

This warlike volley. 
Ham. O, I die, Horatio; 

The potent poison quite o'er-crows my spirit: 



Scene IL] Hamlet 153 

I cannot live to hear the news from England ; 
But I do prophesy the election lights 
On Fortinbras: he has my dying voice; 
So tell him, with the occurrents, more and less, 
Which have solicited. The rest is silence. [Dies. 
Hor. Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet 
prince, 37^ 

And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest ! 
Why does the drum come hither? [March within. 

Enter Fortinbras, and the English Ambassadors, with 
drum, colors, and Attendants. 

Fort. Where is this sight ? 

fjor. What is it you would see ? 

If aught of woe or wonder, cease your search. 

Fort. This quarry cries on havoc. O proud death, 
What feast is toward in thine eternal cell, 
That thou so many princes at a shot 
So bloodily hast struck? 

First Amb. The sight is dismal; 

And our affairs from England come too late : 
The ears are senseless that should give us hearing, 
To tell him his commandment is fulfill'd, 381 

That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead : 
Where should we have our thanks? 

l{or. Not from his mouth 

Had it the ability of life to thank you : 
He never gave commandment for their death. 
But since, so jump upon this bloody question. 



154 Hamlet [Act v. 

You from the Polack wars, and you from England, 

Are here arrived, give order that these bodies 

High on a stage be placed to the view ; 

And let me speak to the yet unknowing world 390 

How these things came about : so shall you hear 

Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts. 

Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters. 

Of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause. 

And, in this upshot, purposes mistook 

Fall'n on the inventors' heads: all this can I 

Truly deliver. ^ 

Fort. Let us haste to Hear it, 

And call the noblest to the audience. 
For me, with sorrow I embrace my fortune : 
I have some rights of memory in this kingdom, 400 
Which now to claim my vantage doth invite me. 

Hor. Of that I shall have also cause to speak. 

And from his mouth whose voice will draw on 

more: 
But let this same be presently perform'd, 
Even while men's minds are wild ; lest more mis- 
chance 
On plots and errors happen. 

Fort. Let four captains 

Bear Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage ; 
For he was likely, had he been put on. 
To have proved most royally: and, for his passage. 
The soldiers' music and the rites of war 410 

Speak loudly for. him. 
Take up the bodies : such a sight as this 



Scene II.] Hamlet 1 55 

Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss. 
Go, bid the soldiers shoot. 

[^A dead march. Exeunt, bearing off the dead 

bodies: after which a peal of ordnance is 

shot off. 




The Swan Theater 



NOTES AND COMMENT 



NOTES AND COMMENT 

Act I. Scene I. 

The first thing which the dramatist has to do is to give the 
audience the facts which must be known in order to understand 
the play. He must make clear, to begin with, enough of what 
has preceded the opening of the play to enable us to grasp 
quickly and intelligently the significance of the situation with 
which the action starts; the opening scenes, that is, must look 
backward. We must, further, be made to feel that this situation 
is not put before us merely for its own sake, but because it is 
charged, so to speak, with latent possibilities — because it carries 
within it the seeds of further actions, further situations; the 
opening scenes, that is, must also look forward. The speakers, 
moreover, must be at once so presented that we shall know, 
without too much puzzling, who they are and where they are, 
with some indication of time as well ; what is happening 
before us now, that is, must define itself without obscurity. 
And finally — although this last is not always attempted — the 
dramatist may seek to awaken in us a particular mood, to 
create a particular atmosphere, which shall foreshadow, in a 
way, the spirit of the drama. All that portion of the play 
(usually the first two or three scenes) which accomplishes 
these ends is called the Exposition. 

The first scene of Hamlet is a very wonderful piece of 
exposition, and should be carefully examined in order to see 
just what information, of the kinds indicated, Shakespeare has 
actually given us, and how he has accomplished it. And this 
exercise will gain both interest and value, if one compare with 
the first scene of Hamlet the first scenes of Macbeth, Romeo and 
Juliet, and Julius Casar — all of them striking examples of 
skill in exposition — and try to discover wherein their methods 
are alike, and wherein different. 

Moreover, all that has been indicated the dramatist must 

159 



i6o Notes and Comment [Act I. 

accomplish by means of dialogue and action alone; he must 
do it with the extreme of brevity, because the time of per- 
formance is inexorably limited; and he must do it with the 
utmost freedom from obscurity or ambiguity, because the actors 
cannot be stopped and asked to repeat what is not clear. To 
the opening of a novel, however, none of these restrictions 
apply, and it will amply repay the time, if one compare with the 
first scene of Hamlet (and of the other plays named as well) 
the opening chapters of (for instance) Ivanhoe, Silas Marner, 
A Tale of Tivo Cities, The House of the Seven Gables, The 
Last of the Mohicans, and observe the totally different fashion 
in which the necessary information is there given. It is after 
four long paragraphs that Scott remarks, in Ivanhoe: " This 
state of things I have thought it necessary to premise for the 
information of the general reader," etc. ; it is after some thirty 
pages of preliminary information that Hawthorne concludes; 
" And now . . . we proceed to open our narrative." Honv 
does Shakespeare give us this same sort of preliminary in- 
formation? 

The notes on the first three scenes are intended, in part, to 
emphasize their qualities as exposition, and to suggest the sort 
of observation that should be applied throughout the play. 

2. Nay, answer me. Observe that me is emphatic. Why? 
Whose business is it to challenge? Notice that the first two 
lines of the play, with their accompanying action, disclose at 
once a certain nervous tension among the watchers on the 
platform. Shakespeare's preparation of the audience for the 
appearance of the Ghost begins with the first two words of 
the play. 

8-9. 'Tis bitter cold, And I am sick at heart. What does 
this add to the effect already produced? 

10. Have you had quiet guard? Observe the implication 
that for some reason Bernardo thinks the watch may not have 
been quiet. 

13. Bid them make haste. Is Bernardo unwilling to be 
left alone? Or is he expecting something to happen at any 
moment? Or is it both? 

14. Stand, ho! Who's there? Notice that Francisco, who 
has been relieved, is startled into the challenge which Ber- 
nardo should now give. What impression of the state of things 



Scene!.] Notes and Comment i6i 

on the platform has Shakespeare succeeded in producing in 
the first fourteen lines ? 

19. What, is Horatio there? Observe the skill with which 
Shakespeare leads up to Horatio's part in the scene. Has Ber- 
nardo been certain that he would come? Does the reason for 
his doubt appear later? 

19. A piece of him: a playful remark, into which no deep 
significance is to be read. 

21. What, has this thing appear'd again to-night? The 
reason for the agitation of the sentinels now begins to appear. 
But observe how gradually it is still led up to: "this thing"; 
" this dreaded sight " ; " this apparition " — then the Ghost itself, 
and finally, " like the king that's dead." Compare the approach 
of the phantom ship in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: " a 
something in the sky" (Part HI, line 6); "a little speck" 
(line 7); "a mist" (line 8); "a certain shape" (line 10); 
"a sail! a sail!" (line 19) — and then the detailed description. 
It was Coleridge who pointed out that in Marcellus's question 
" even the word ' again ' has its credibilizing eifect." How ? 

29. And speak to it. Why should not the others speak to 
it? See note on line 42 below. 

36. Yond same star: probably the Great Bear, or some 
star in it. 

36. The pole: the pole star. Observe the heightening of 
Bernardo's language under the stress of his feeling, and notice, 
too, the naturalness of representing him as marking the time, 
on his lonely watch, by the position of the stars. 

39. The bell then beating one. What time was it in line 
7? What time is it now (cf. line 65) ? How long does it 
take to speak 32 lines? The time allowed to represent the 
action on the stage must inevitably be very much shorter than 
the actual duration of the action itself, and Shakespeare's skill 
in making us forget that there is such a discrepancy is strikingly 
illustrated here. 

[Enter Ghost]. The Ghost in Hamlet is remarkable, 
among other things, for the number of its appearances, and 
for the amazing skill with which each appearance is made to 
come as a surprise. We have seen how its first appearance 
has been led up to; the way in which the others are introduced 
should be carefull.y observed. And a comparison with the 



1 62 Notes and Comment [Act I. 

appearance of Banquo's ghost and of the ghost of Cassar is 
worth making. 

42. Thou art a scholar; speak to it. Exorcisms were usu- 
ally in Latin, and frequently in the form of a palindrome (a 
sentence which reads the same backwards as forwards), as: 
Signa te signa, temere me tangis et angis. Moreover, it was 
believed that a ghost could not speak until it was spoken to. 

44. Most like, etc. Observe the total change in Horatio's 
attitude, and also the " credibilizing effect" of this change 
upon the attitude of the audience towards the Ghost. What 
would have been the difference, in other words, if all the 
speakers had from the first believed in the Ghost? — From this 
time on to the end of the scene it is Horatio who holds the center 
of the stage. 

45. Question it: speak to it — not, interrogate it. See ques- 
tion in the Glossary. 

63. The sledded Polacks: Poles traveling in sleds or 
sledges. The earliest texts spell the word pollax (or polax), 
with or without a capital, and an alternative interpretation is 
that offered by the spelling of the Fourth Folio, Poleaxe. In 
this case " sledded poleaxe " is commonly explained as a pole- 
axe (or battle-axe) weighted with a heavy sledge or hammer. 
But Polacks (an emendation which is due to Pope's keenness) 
is probably correct. Compare the use of Polack elsewhere in 
the play (see Concordance). 

68. In the gross and scope of my opinion: speaking 
generally — as contrasted with " particular thought." " Gross 
and scope " is probably hendiadys for " gross scope " ; see 
Glossary under gross. 

70. Good now: " an interjectional expression denoting ac- 
quiescence, entreaty, expostulation or surprise" {Oxford Dic- 
tionary). Observe that the four long speeches which follow 
(in sharp contrast with the quicker movement of the earlier 
dialogue) accomplish two things: they familiarize us with some 
of the events which have preceded the opening of the play; 
and they distract our attention, as we follow their rather 
complicated statements, from the Ghost, so that its second 
appearance comes, like the first, as a surprise. 

84. Our valiant Hamlet: the elder Hamlet, not the hero of 
the play. 



Scene!.] Notes and Comment 163 

87. Law and heraldry. This means either common law and 
the regulations of heraldry, or possibly (by hendiadys; see 
line 68 above) the law of heraldry. 

90. A moiety competent: a portion equivalent to that of 
Fortinbras. Moiety strictly means one-half (see, for instance, 
Henry VIII, I, ii, 12) ; but Shakespeare frequently uses it in the 
general sense of portion. 

94. Carriage of the article design'd: the tenor (or im- 
port) of the stipulation just mentioned. 

96. Unimproved mettle: probably, unimpugned courage (or 
spirit). But unimproved may possibly mean either "untu- 
tored " or " not turned to account," since improve has several 
meanings in Elizabethan English. 

100. That hath a stomach in't: that demands stubborn 
courage — with a possible play on the other sense of stomach, 
namely, "appetite." Cf. Henry V, III, vii, 166: "they have only 
stomachs to eat and none to fight." 

109. Portentous: of the nature of a portent, ominous — not 
merely in the sense of " prodigious, monstrous, extraordinary," 
as frequently in present usage. Notice especially its use in 
Julius CcEsar, I, iii, 31, when that passage is read as indicated 
below, under line 113. 

no. So like the king. Turn back to lines 47-49, 58-59, 81. 
Why is this point so emphasized? 

113 ff. Compare Julius Ctesar, I, iii, 1-78; II, ii, 13-31, for a 
fuller account. In both instances Shakespeare is recalling 
certain passages in Plutarch's life of Julius Caesar, which he 
knew in North's translation. Compare especially the following, 
where Plutarch speaks of " the strange and wonderful signs 
that were said to be seen before Cassar's death": "For, touching 
the fires in the element, and spirits running up and down in 
the night, and also the solitary birds to be seen at noondays 
sitting in the great market-place: are not all these signs per- 
haps worth the noting, in such a wonderful chance as hap- 
pened? But Strabo the Philosopher writeth, that divers men 
were seen going up and down in fire. . . . Again, of signs 
in the element, the great comet which seven nights together was 
seen very bright after Caesar's death," etc. (Temple edition, VII, 
pp. 202-03, 211). 

117. As stars, etc. Either a line has dropped out before 



) 
164 Notes and Comment [Act I. 

line 117, or the passage is in some other way corrupt. Numer- 
ous emendations have been suggested. 

118. Disasters in the sun. Cf. North's Plutarch: "Also 
the brightness of the sun was darkened, the which all that year 
through rose very pale, and shined not out, whereby it gave 
but small heat: therefore the air being very cloudy and dark, 
by the weakness of the heat that could not come forth, did 
cause the earth to bring forth but raw and unripe fruit, 
which rotted before it could ripe " (Temple edition, VII, 
pp. 211-13). Look up the etymology and first meaning of 
disaster. 

118. The moist star: the moon. Shakespeare also calls it 
"the watery star" {Winter's Tale, I, ii, i). Why? 

119. Upon whose influence, etc.: to whose influence the sea 
is subject. The reference is, of course, to the tides. Look up 
the first meaning of influence in the dictionary, and then read 
over the passages under influence in the Shakespeare Con- 
cordance. 

120. Look up St. Matthew, xxiv, 29. 

121. Fierce: violent, terrible, wild. Cf. the modern slang 
use of the word. 

122. Harbingers. Cf. Macbeth, I, iv, 45: "I'll be myself 
the harbinger." 

123. Omen: here, the event which the omen portends. Notice 
the dramatic skill with which these lines lead up to the re- 
appearance of the Ghost. 

125. Climatures: regions. Compare again the parallel pas- 
sage in Julius C^sar: " For, I believe, they are portentous things 
Unto the climate that they point upon" (I, iii, 31-32). 

127-39. I'll cross it, etc. Does Horatio need any longer to 
be urged to speak? Has the heightening of the rhythmic move- 
ment of the lines in his appeal to the Ghost and the refrain-like 
recurrence of " Speak to me," " O speak," " Speak of it," any- 
thing to do with a corresponding heightening of feeling? What 
superstitions are referred to in lines 127 and 136-38? 

145. As the air, invulnerable. Cf . " the intrenchant air," 
Macbeth, V, viii, 9-10; "the invulnerable clouds," Kinff John, 
II, i, 252. The adjectives which Shakespeare and Milton apply 
to the air are well worth looking up in the Concordances. 

148. Started. The first Quarto has faded. Can you suggest 



Scene I.] Notes and Comment 165 

two possible reasons for the change? For the striking changes 
in lines 150-53 see the Introduction, pp. xii-xiii. 

154. The extravagant and erring spirit. An excellent il- 
lustration of the need of care in dealing with words which, in 
modern English, are the same in form but different in meaning. 
Extra<vagant here means ** straying, wandering out of bounds " ; 
look up Othello, I, i, 137, and T'welfth Night, II, i, 11-12, for a 
similar use of both adjective and noun. Erring means simply 
"roaming, wandering" (as it does in Othello, I, iii, 362), with- 
out any hint of ethical import. Compare " we have erred and 
strayed from thy ways like lost sheep," in the Prayer Book. 

162-63. No planets strike, No fairy takes. Strike is used 
of the malevolent influence of planets and other superhuman 
forces; look up Winter's Tale, I, ii, 201; Coriolanus, II, ii, 117. 
Take is similarly used; look up Merry Wi'ves, IV, iv, 32; 
Antony and Cleopatra, IV, ii, 37. See the use of both words 
in Lear, II, iv, 165-66; compare Lear, III, iv, 61. 

170. Young Hamlet. Everything that has happened, with 
all the interest and suspense that it has aroused, is now con- 
centrated, at one stroke, upon Hamlet. Turn to the first scene 
of Macbeth, and see how line 8 focusses the whole effect of the 
witch-scene upon Macbeth. Is the same thing done in the first 
scene of Julius Caesar? How? What difference do you notice 
in the first scene of Romeo and Juliet? 

Notice the variations in style and rhythm in the scene: its 
beginning in a low key, almost in the tone of ordinary conver- 
sation; its passage, after the first appearance of the Ghost, into 
a weighty and rather involved narrative and expository style ; 
until, after the second appearance of the Ghost, the intense 
feeling that has been stirred expresses itself in verse of an 
almost lyrical quality. Does an audience feel anything un- 
natural in the highly poetical quality of the closing speeches? 
Why not? What would have been the effect if the play had 
begun in this style? Do any of the plays you have read open 
in a lofty strain ? Look again at the opening scenes from this 
point of view. Richard III is an exception to the general rule 
in this respect. In what other way does its opening differ from 
what you have observed? In the other scenes in Hamlet watch 
for instances of the flexibility with which the style accommodates 
itself to the thought. 



1 66 Notes and Comment [Acti. 



Act I, Scene II. 

The first scene dealt with a single arresting situation; the 
second, which continues the exposition, brings before us, rather, 
a state of affairs — the tense personal relations, that is, between 
Hamlet and the King and Queen. And this tenseness grows 
(we are made to feel) out of the sharply divergent attitudes 
of Hamlet on the one hand, and Claudius and Gertrude on the 
other, towards the very fact upon which our attention was 
concentrated in the first scene, the death of the elder Hamlet, 
especially as this is now linked with a new and significant fact, 
the precipitate marriage of the Queen with Claudius. That this 
new fact is of prime importance becomes clear in Hamlet's 
passionate soliloquy, and it is from the disclosures of this 
soliloquy that we are brought back again to the appearance 
of the Ghost. In other words, the second scene throws the 
appearance of the Ghost against the background of the relations 
of these three people — Claudius, Gertrude, and Hamlet — and it 
suggests to us that the clue to the mystery is to be looked for 
there. The scene is further linked with the previous one by 
the renewed emphasis upon the affair with Fortinbras. And 
it also looks forward, in that the prompt fixing of our attention 
upon Laertes, as he is singled out by the King, suggests that 
he is probably to play some important part in the action. 

Observe the sharp and dramatic contrast between the settings 
of Scenes I and H — the bleak platform and the armed sentries: 
the pomp and ceremony of the court. Notice, too, the equally 
sharp contrast within Scene II itself, by which the somber 
figure of Hamlet, all in black, is set off against the brilliant 
court costumes of the rest, so that the central fact of the situa- 
tion is presented to the eye, before a word is spoken. 

I. Observe that the very first line takes us back, by impli- 
cation, to the Ghost. 

4. Brow of woe: an example of what is sometimes called 
" the ' thieves of mercy ' construction." The genitive phrase is 
equivalent to an adjective preceding the noun which it limits: 
thus, "thieves of mercy" {Hamlet, IV, vi, 20) = merciful 
thieves; "a day of season" {All's Well, V, iii, 32) =a season- 
able day; "strength of limit" {Winter's Tale, III, ii, 107) = 



Scene II.] Notes and Comment 167 

limited strength; "brow of youth" {Lear, I, iv, 306) = youthful 
brow. *' Brow of woe " is equivalent to the " mourning brow " 
of Lo've's Labour's Lost, V, ii, 754. 

5-6. That we with wisest sorrow. Notice that " wisest " 
answers to " discretion," " sorrow " to " nature," in the preceding 
line. See also next note for similar balanced structure. What 
pronoun does the King use in referring to himself throughout 
this speech? Why? 

10. A defeated joy: joy that is marred or disfigured. Cf. 
Othello, I, iii, 346: "defeat thy favor [mar your face] with an 
usurped beard." Notice, too, that the antithesis involved in 
this phrase is worked out with threefold iteration in the next 
three lines. 

11. A dropping eye: a weeping eye. The general idea of 
line II reappears in Winter's Tale, V, ii, 80: "She had one 
eye declined for the loss of her husband, another elevated that 
the oracle was fulfilled." Cf. " To laugh with one eye, and 
cry with the other." 

17. That you know, young Fortinbras: that 'which you 
know — namely, that young Fortinbras, etc. 

22. He. The pronoun is superfluous, but the usage (now 
incorrect) was not uncommon. Cf. II, i, 84. 

25. So much for him. Cf. line 16: "For all, our thanks." 
Claudius is dispatching disagreeable matters quickly. 

28. Norway: the King of Norway. Cf. "bloody England 
into England gone" {King John, III, iv, 8); "our brother 
France" {Henry V, V, ii, 2). 

1-39. Notice the rather set rhetorical character of this first 
speech as contrasted with the lyrical quality of the closing 
speeches of the preceding scene. Is this to be interpreted 
merely as conventional oratorical style, or is it intended to 
suggest a certain embarrassment on the King's part in dealing 
— especially in the first sixteen lines — with a delicate subject? 
Observe the strong alliteration of the first twenty-five lines. 
In the First Quarto the scene begins at line 26. What has 
Shakespeare gained by inserting the first twenty-five lines? 
What is added, in lines 17-39, to our information regarding the 
affair with Fortinbras? 

42-50. To whom would one expect the King to speak first? 
Why does he not? How many times does he name Laertes 



1 68 Notes and Comment [Act I. 

in this short speech? Has this any significance? Does the 
King use the same pronoun throughout in addressing Laertes? 
(Observe that in Shakespeare's English thou was very much 
like the more intimate or familiar du of German; you, like the 
more formal Sie, although the two are often rather freely 
interchanged.) Has the change any significance here? Does the 
King use the same pronoun in referring to himself that he has 
used in the preceding speech? Why this change? 

44-45. You cannot make a reasonable request, and waste your 
breath. Cf. line 118. 

51. Leave and favor: favorable leave (the First Quarto 
has "favorable license"). Cf. "your gracious leave and par- 
don " in line 56, where pardon = permission. 

64. My cousin Hamlet. Cousin (equivalent to *' kinsman ") 
is used in Shakespeare for niece, uncle, brother-in-law, and 
grandchild. What is the relationship here? What of the 
King's tact in calling Hamlet "son"? 

65. A little more than kin, and less than kind: that is, a 
little too much related (referring to "cousin" and "son") 
with no kinship in nature. Kind (pronounced in Shakespeare's 
time as if it rimed with "sinned") means nature, and Hamlet's 
allusion is probably to the King's marriage, which was regarded 
as incestuous, and so unnatural. There is also a play on the 
other sense of " kind " — i. e., there is no love lost between us. 
Notice that Hamlet's first speech is a play on words, and an 
aside. What light is thrown at once on Hamlet's attitude 
towards the King? 

66. The clouds: an allusion to the " nighted color" of 
Hamlet's "inky cloak" — perhaps also to "the dejected havior of 
[his] visage." (Notice that the King uses you instead of thou 
in addressing Hamlet. What pronoun does the Queen use?) 

67. I am too much i' the sun. Possibly (i) in direct 
response to the King's reference to Hamlet's garb, with ironical 
allusion (easily made clear by a gesture) to the bright costumes 
of the Court, which has put off its mourning for the wedding. 
Or (2) there may be an allusion to an old proverb — "out of 
God's blessing into the warm sun" (see Lear, H, ii, 168-69) — 
which meant to be out of house and home, so that Hamlet is 
referring to his loss of the throne. And there is probably in 
either case (3) a play upon "sun" and "son" (line 64), which 



Scene II.] Notes and Comment 1 69 

would be quite in keeping with Hamlet's fondness for verbal 
quibbling. 

69. Denmark: the King; cf. Norivay, line 28. 

70. For ever. How long since the King's death? See line 
138. What of the Queen's tact? Vailed is "lowered"; cf. 
Venus and Adonis, 956; Merchant of Venice, I, i, 28. 

72. Thou know'st 'tis common. Remember that it is 
Hamlet's mother who is saying this to him of his father. 
Cf. Tempest, II, i, 3-6, and look up Tennyson's development 
of the idea in In Memoriam, VI, lines 1-8. 

92. Obsequious sorrow: sorrow that is dutiful in showing 
respect to the dead. Look up Titus Andronicus, V, iii, 152, 
and especially Sonnet XXXI, 5-7. Persever in Shakespeare is 
always accented on the second syllable. 

99. As any the most vulgar thing to sense: as anything 
which is most ordinary or commonplace to the understanding. 

101-03. Observe Claudius's habit of heaping up parallel 
phrases; cf. lines 93-97. Can you point out instances in his 
first speech ? Is his emphasis natural, or is he " protesting too 
much " ? 

log. Cf. Ill, ii, 356. The throne of Denmark was elective 
(see V, ii, 366-67), but royal blood was considered in deter- 
mining the succession. Had Hamlet himself expected to succeed 
his father? See V, ii, 65; III, iv, 100. Was Claudius's remark, 
then, particuliarly consoling? 

112. Impart. The construction is confused, for impart has 
no object. There is possibly some slight corruption of the text, 
but the general sense is clear. 

113. See note on line 164. 

114. Retrograde: contrary. Another astrological term; cf. 
notes on I, i, 118, 119, and see Greenough and Kittredge, Words 
and their Ways in English Speech, chap. IV, especially pp. 33-34. 

117. Our . . . cousin and our son. Cf. line 64. Why 
does the King change the pronoun? 

120. In all my best: to the extent of my power; cf. Othello, 
III, iv, 127. How often has Hamlet addressed the King in 
this scene? The formality of his address to his mother — 
" Madam," when she has said " thy mother " — is less significant, 
as such formality was observed in high-born families. See 
also lines 74-76. Juliet regularly addresses her mother as 



170 Notes and Comment [Act I. 

" Madam " (except in Romeo and Juliet, III, v, 200, where 
she cries out " O, sweet my mother, cast me not away! "). Com- 
pare Hamlet's use of "mother" in Act III, Scene IV; observe, 
too, the way in which Laertes and Ophelia address their father 
in Act I, Scene III. 

121-24. The King is rather making the best of a bad 
job. 

125. Watch as you read for amplifications of this hint re- 
garding the King's fondness for drinking. 

129-59. How often has Hamlet spoken up to this point? 
How often more than a single line? Yet what has been in his 
mind all the while? Consider his restraint in the presence of 
others in the light of what the soliloquy discloses. What is the 
significance of the frequent broken constructions in the soliloquy? 
Is it his father's death, as the King and Queen suppose, that is 
uppermost in Hamlet's mind? Compare what Hamlet says in 
lines 137-49 with what the King says in lines i-i6. Does this 
make clearer Hamlet's mood in line 65 ? After the glimpse 
which the soliloquy gives into the state of Hamlet's mind are 
we better prepared to understand the effect upon him of Horatio's 
communication ? 

129. Too too. Emphatic reduplication, not uncommon in 
Elizabethan English. See Two Gentlemen of Verona, II, iv, 205, 
and cf. " most most " in Sonnet CX, 14. Does Hamlet's repeti- 
tion in " melt. Thaw and resolve " impress you in the same way 
as the King's repetitions? 

131-32. Cf. Cymbeline, III, iv, 78-80. Where is the " canon " 
to be found? 

140. Hyperion to a satyr. Hyperion is accented on the 
penult in Greek and Latin; Spenser, Gray, and Keats, as well 
as Shakespeare, accent it on the antepenult. Hyperion was a 
Titan, the Sun-god dethroned by Apollo, with whom he is 
later identified. For a description of his beauty, see Keats's 
Hyperion, II, 371-75, and cf. Hamlet, III, iv, 56. 

145. Within a month. Within a month of what? Is it 
of the elder Hamlet's death? If so, Claudius and Gertrude 
have been married a month (cf. line 138), yet Claudius an- 
nounces the marriage as if it had just taken place. It is prob- 
able that Hamlet means within a month of the funeral (cf. lines 
147-49), which might have been delayed two or three weeks, 



Scene II.] Notes and Comment 171 

so that the marriage has just occurred. Notice Hamlet's three- 
fold iteration (lines 145, 147, 153)- 

147. Or ere. Cf. " or ever " in line 183. The ever {ere) 
adds emphasis. Cf. Psalm xc, 2; Ecclesiastes, xii, 6. 

149. Niobe. Her children were slain by the arrows of 
Apollo and Artemis. 

150. That wants discourse of reason: that lacks the rea- 
soning faculty. (The First Quarto has "devoid of reason"). 
Cf. particularly IV, iv, 33-39. 

155. Flushing: probably in the sense of "reddening" — 
although possibly it means "flooding" (with tears). 

157. Dexterity: celerity — possibly with the added idea of 
adroitness. 

160. Hail to your lordship! How is Hamlet addressed 
throughout the rest of the scene? It must not be forgotten that 
" Lord Hamlet is a prince." Observe the pronouns used through- 
out this dialogue. 

161. Horatio, — or I do forget myself. It is a question 
whether this is to be interpreted as implying uncertainty in 
Hamlet's recognition of Horatio, or merely surprise at seeing 
him in Elsinore. Hamlet and Horatio are friends of long stand- 
ing (see III, ii, 67-79), so that the first interpretation is possible 
only on the assumption that Hamlet has not seen Horatio for 
some time — or else that he is still lost in his own thoughts. 
Perhaps an exclamation point after " Horatio " is best, as in- 
dicating Hamlet's surprise; then "or I do forget myself" is 
roughly equivalent to " surely I can't be mistaken." Notice 
that Hamlet has a trick of turning his mind quickly back upon 
his own statements; cf. lines 138, 233 (see note), 240. (The 
conventional greeting of line 160 — with which compare II, ii, 
440-41 — is probably spoken before Hamlet observes that it is 
friends and not strangers who are approaching). 

163. Read the line: "Sir, my good friend; I'll change that 
name with you" — i. e., I'll exchange (so that we give and take 
on equal terms) the name of friend with you. Another inter- 
pretation makes the line mean: "You are my good friend, I 
your poor servant." Observe throughout the rest of the scene 
Hamlet's exquisite courtesy. 

164. What make you from Wittenberg? If Hamlet as 
well as Horatio has come from Wittenberg for the King's 



172 Notes and Comment [Act I. 

funeral, why is Hamlet either uncertain in his recognition of 
Horatio, or surprised to see him? Do the King's words in 
line 113 necessarily imply that Hamlet has just come from 
Wittenberg? The whole matter is puzzling, but it is at least 
possible that Hamlet had left Wittenberg some time before the 
opening of the play, and was at Elsinore at the time of his 
father's death. With " what make you " compare the German 
" was machen Sie," and cf . II, ii, 378. Why is the question 
twice repeated (lines 168, 174) ? 

165. Marcellus? The interrogation point does not occur in 
either the Quartos or the Folios, which have a period. Ham- 
let apparently is not uncertain in his recognition of Marcellus, 
who has been at Elsinore. 

170-73. Observe again the gracious courtesy of the reply. 
In how many lights has Shakespeare already made us see 
Hamlet? 

175. What mood appears again in this line? 

176. What reason does Laertes give for having come (line 
53) ? Why the difference? 

178. What does Shakespeare mean us to see was uppermost 
in Hamlet's mind? 

180. Baked-meats: pastry. Cf. Genesis, xl, 17. Feasts at 
funerals used to be customary. 

182. My dearest foe. " ' Dear ' is used of whatever touches 
us nearly either in love or hate, joy or sorrow" (Clark and 
Wright). Cf. "dearest spite" {Sonnet XXXVII, 3); "terms 
so bloody and so dear" {Twelfth Night, V, 74). 

185. What does Horatio think Hamlet means? Observe the 
skill with which Horatio's disclosure is led up to. In what 
follows, how does Shakespeare hold our interest in the account 
of what we have just seen for ourselves? With whose point 
of view do we identify ourselves? The rest of the scene 
is really almost equivalent to a third appearance of the Ghost. 

187. He was a man. Edwin Booth was accustomed to pause 
after " man," as if contrasting it with " king." This interpreta- 
tion is perhaps questionable, but cf. Julius Ccesar, V, v, 73-75. 

190. Saw? who? Who is frequently used for <whom in 
Shakespeare. — The best way to make sure that you understand a 
passage like this— or indeed anything in Shakespeare — is to read 
it aloud. 



Scene II.] Notes and Comment 173 

192. Season your admiration: temper your amazement. 

198. Vast: vacancy, void. Cf. "that vast of night" {Tem- 
pest, I, ii, 327). Dead (cf. I, i, 65) means "still as death"; 
cf. "as dead midnight still" {Henry V, III, chor., 19); "the 
night's dead silence" {Tiuo Gentlemen of Verona, III, ii, 85). 
Some of the early texts have ivaste (or luast) instead of 'vast. 

200. At point exactly: equivalent to " at all points," in 
Richard II, I, iii, 2. Cap-a-pe is "from head to foot" (cf. line 
228). 

204. Distill'd: melted. What does the figure of jelly sug- 
gest? Act = agency, operation. 

207. Dreadful: full of dread. Cf. Chaucer's "with dredeful 
foot" {Knight's Tale, 621). 

214. Did you not speak to it? What word has the em- 
phasis ? Cf . line 206. Why " it " instead of " him," when 
Horatio has said "your father"? Is the use of' the neuter 
pronoun maintained throughout the scene? 

216. It head: an old form of the possessive which occurs 
sixteen times in the First Folio, as against ten occurrences of 
its. Cf. "it had it head bit off by it young" {Lear, I, iv, 236). 
His was the usual possessive form for both masculine and 
neuter. 

216-20. Cf. I, i, 147. Has Shakespeare heightened the sus- 
pense by interrupting the Ghost before it has imparted its 
secret ? 

217. Like as. Not to be confused with the use of like 
alone as a conjunction, which is contrary to the best usage, and 
which has arisen from the ellipsis of as in the phrase that is 
here used. 

219. Cf. I, i, 148-49. 

225. What is in Hamlet's mind? Cf. line 242. 

226. To what does " arm'd " refer? 

229. Then saw you not his face? Is "his" necessarily 
personal here? See note on line 216. But how does Horatio 
understand it? The First Quarto has a period after "face." 
What in that case is the implication of the line? 

231-32. Is this consistent with I, i, 62? How do you account 
for the discrepancy? 

233. Pale or red? The First Quarto has a comma after 
" pale," and this is probably the better reading. The pause 



174 Notes and Comment [Act I. 

gives to " or red " almost the quality of an afterthought, as if 
suggested by the idea (which is evidently in Hamlet's mind) 
that the Ghost has come in anger; and it is to "or red" that 
Horatio's " Nay " answers. Observe the impression of veri- 
similitude which Hamlet's minute questions give. 

237. Very like, very like. Is Hamlet concerned with his 
own feelings, or absorbedly intent upon the Ghost? 

239. Longer, longer. What effect does this difference of 
opinion have upon our impression of reality? 

240. His beard was grizzled, — no? All the Folios and 
Quartos have a period after "no." The Quartos have a comma, 
the Folios an interrogation point, after "grizzled" (in the 
Quartos, "grizzley"). Many modern editors put an interro- 
gation point after both words. Read the line aloud with the 
punctuations: . . . "grizzled? No?"; . . . "grizzled? No."; 
. . . "grizzled, — no?," and consider the difference in meaning. 
With line 242: "a sable silver'd," cf. Sonnet XII, 4. 

242. I will watch to-night. Where is the emphasis? Is 
Hamlet lacking in decision, so far as we have yet seen? 

244-46. Why such strong language on Hamlet's part? 

251. Your loves. The plural is often used in Shakespeare 
(where we should use the singular) in designating attributes 
or qualities ascribed to more than one person; cf. I, i, 173; 
I, ii, 15; II, ii, 14. 

254. Cf. line 163. 

256. I doubt some foul play. Has this explanation oc- 
curred to any of the others? Cf. I, i, 68-69, 112-25, 130-39. 

256. Would the night were come! Notice Hamlet's eager- 
ness to have the time come round, and observe carefully, as you 
go on with the play, how he actually meets opportunities as 
they present themselves. 

Summarize carefully all the additional information of which 
this scene has put us in possession. On whom is everything in 
the scene made to focus ? 



Act I. Scene III. 

In Scene III our attention is, for the time being, entirely with- 
drawn from the Ghost; it is a new strand that is being woven. 



Scene III.] Notes and Comment 175 

The first scene fixed our interest, through the Ghost, upon the 
mystery of the elder Hamlet's death; the second joined with that 
the inexplicable haste of the Queen's marriage; the third adds 
another fact of crucial importance — Hamlet's love for Ophelia, 
especially as it is regarded by her father and brother. With 
these three people Hamlet's destiny is intimately linked, and 
although he does not himself appear, it is nevertheless about 
him that the whole scene centers. Directly or indirectly, when 
the first three scenes are ended, the Ghost, Horatio, the King, 
the Queen, Ophelia, Polonius, and Laertes have been brought 
into relation with Hamlet, in connection with one or the other 
of the three salient facts, and with the third scene the exposition 
proper is concluded. 

The quieter setting of Scene HI and the more domestic tenor 
of its dialogue afford a certain relief from the high tension of 
the preceding scenes. 

I. How has this been prepared for? Watch, as you read, 
for other instances of Shakespeare's skill in providing before- 
hand the explanation (or moti<vation) of actions still to come. 
Would a novelist, in this case, have been under the same 
necessity ? 

2-3. As the winds give benefit And convoy is assistant: 
now that the winds are advantageous, and means of conveyance 
are ready. 

6. A toy in blood: an idle fancy, due to mere impulse. For 
toy in this sense cf. " light-wing'd toys Of feather'd Cupid " 
{Othello, I, iii, 269): "no jealous toy Concerning you" {ibid, 
III, iv, 156) ; and cf. I, iv, 75 (with note). Blood is often used 
of passion or impulse, as opposed to reason; see especially HI, 
ii, 74, and cf. Merchant of Venice, I, ii, 17: "the brain may 
devise laws for the blood." Notice how the idea of " toy " is 
carried out in "trifling" and "fashion." 

7. Primy nature: nature in its springtime. 

9. Suppliance of a minute: that which serves to fill up or 
supply the moment. Notice how the idea of transitoriness (" of 
a minute") is carried out in "not permanent," "not lasting," 
and observe the beauty of the phrasing. 

10. No more but so? The Quartos and Folios have a 
period, and there is much to be said in favor of their reading. 
The first few words which Shakespeare puts into the mouth of 



176 



Notes and Comment [Act I. 



a character are often peculiarly in keeping, and Ophelia's words, 
so punctuated, are like those of a docile child, repeating some- 
thing it knows it must learn to say. Compare especially the 
light thrown by lines 104-05 on Ophelia's training. 

11-14. Observe how the idea of "crescent" is amplified in 
" grow," " waxes," " grows wide." " This temple " refers to 
the body (see St. John, ii, 21, and cf. Macbeth, II, iii, 73; Rape 
of Lucrece, 719, 1172), and the figure is carried out in " service." 
With the word-pair " mind and soul " cf. the similar pairs in 
lines 12, 21, 23, 26, 35, and 41. 

26. In his particular act and place: under the limitations 
imposed by his rank upon his action. 

14-28. Is Laertes's general position sound, from the point of 
view of worldly wisdom? 

34. In the rear. Observe the military figure carried out in 
the next line. 

40. Buttons: buds; cf. French houton. Disclosed = opened. 

44. Even with no tempter present, youth rebels against self- 
restraint. Does Laertes seem to be very sure of either Hamlet's 
honor or Ophelia's purity? Does this throw so much light on 
their character as on his? 

50. The primrose path. Cf. " the primrose way to the 
everlasting bonfire" {Macbeth, II, iii, 21): "the flowery way 
that leads to the broad gate and the great fire " {All's Well, 
IV, V, 56). See also R. L. Stevenson: "Life is over, life was 
gay: We have come the primrose way." 

51. Recks not his own rede: heeds not his own counsel. 

51-52. O, fear me not. I stay too long. Is Laertes in- 
terested in hearing his "good lesson" turned against himself? 
Fear me not = have no fear about me. 

55. Cf. I, ii, 58-60. Is there a real discrepancy? 

56. Sits. Cf. I, ii, 124, and especially Merchant of Venice, 
I, i, 18. 

57. There. What gesture is implied? 

59. Character: inscribe. Accented on the second syllable. 

61. Familiar, but by no means vulgar: unconstrainedly 
friendly, without making yourself cheap. The best commen- 
tary on vulgar, as here used, is / Henry IV, III, ii, 39-41. 

63. What is the figure? Pope substitutes hooks for hoops. 
What objection to the emendation? Make clear to yourself the 



Scene III.] Notes and Comment 177 

figures in the next two lines. Does Shakespeare seem to think 
in abstract, or concrete terms ? Go back over the preceding 
lines of this scene, and pick out the figures. Are they there for 
ornament, as something extraneous, or are they part of the very 
texture of the thought? Watch for this characteristic of Shake- 
speare's mode of expression as you read. 

65. Comrade. Probably accented on the last syllable. 

69. Censure: judgment, opinion — as constantly in Shake- 
speare. 

71. Rich, not gaudy. Notice that this repeats " costly . . . 
not expressed in fancy" (i. e., not fantastic). Be careful to 
avoid the common misquotation " neat, but not gaudy." 

74. This line (which appears in various forms in ihe Quartos 
and Folios) is pretty certainly corrupt, and numerous emenda- 
tions have been suggested. If we read: "Are most select and 
generous in that," we have the gist of it. (It has been cleverly 
conjectured that "of" and "chief" were in the margin of 
the manuscript as alternatives for "in" and "best ' of line 73, 
and that they got into line 74 by mistake). 

77. Husbandry: thrift, economy; cf. "there's husbandry in 
heaven, their candles are all out" (Macbeth, II, i, 4). 

58-81. With Polonius's advice to Laertes compare that of the 
Countess to Bertram in All's Well, I, i, 70-79, and identify 
the correspondences. Polonius's speech is in part suggested by 
a passage in Lyly's Euphues, in which Euphues gives to his 
friend Philautus (who is on his way to England, as Laertes 
is on his way to France) what he too calls " these few precepts." 
Compare the following with Shakespeare: "Be not lavish of 
thy tongue. . . . Every one that shaketh thee by the hand, is 
not joined to thee in heart. . . . Be not quarrelous for every 
light occasion: they are . . . ready to revenge an injury, but 
never wont to proffer any: they never fight without provoking, 
and once provoked they never cease. ... It shall be there better 
to hear what they say, than to speak what thou thinkest: they 
have long ears and short tongues, quick to hear, and slow to 
utter" {Euphues, ed. Arber, p. 246). Look up also Lord Bur- 
leigh's " ten precepts " to his son Robert Cecil, as quoted in 
the Variorum Hamlet, Vol. II, p. 239. The gist of Polonius's 
sheaf of maxims seems to be the avoidance of the " unpro- 
portioned," the steering of a safe middle course. 



1 78 Notes and Comment [ActI. 

94. Put on: imparted to; cf. As You Like It, I, ii, 99-100. 

99. Tenders: offers; cf. "legal tender." 

loi. Affection! pooh! One object of this scene is to dis- 
close the character of Polonius, Laertes, and Ophelia, together 
with their attitude towards life, as constituting an essential 
element in Hamlet's immediate environment. What insight into 
Polonius's character is given by this speech? 

104. What does this tell us of Ophelia? 

107. Tender: hold dear, take care of. Polonius — who 
piques himself on his powers of expression — is playing on the 
two senses of the word. To " crack the wind of the -poor 
phrase " is to run it till it is out of breath. 

109. You'll tender me a fool: either, you'll present your- 
self to me as a fool ; or, you'll make me a public laughing- 
stock. 

112. Fashion you may call it. Polonius here means what 
Laertes meant in line 6. 

115. Springes to catch woodcocks. Woodcocks were pro- 
verbial for their stupidity. Cf. V, ii, 317; Winter's Tale, IV, 
iii, 36. Springe = snare. 

122. Entreatments: interviews. The idea of negotiations, 
which the word has, is carried out in " command to parley." 

127-30. Brokers are go-betweens, panders; dye ::= color; 
investments = garments (cf. "wolves in sheep's clothing"); 
breathing = whispering. 

131. For all: once for all. 

133. Moment leisure. Moment is used as an adjective. 
Cf. "Lethe wharf" (I, v, 33); "region kites" (II, ii, 607). 

134. Cf. lines 120-23. How do you account for the change 
in Polonius's orders? 

136. Look back over Ophelia's speeches. What tentative 
judgment should you form of her character? What is Polonius's 
reading of Hamlet's character? How does it differ from 
Laertes's estimate? Is it very likely that any of them will 
understand him? 

Act I. Scene IV. 

The first three scenes have brought before us the chief actors 
in the tragedy, in their relations to each other, and to certain 



Scene IV.] Notes and Comment 179 

momentous facts, but the action proper has not yet begun. 
The forces involved are still in equilibrium, however unstable; 
something must occur which shall disturb the balance, and pre- 
cipitate the action. And the impulsion which releases the latent 
forces and sets them in motion is the revelation of the Ghost. 
Scene IV leads up to this; in Scene V we are put in possession 
of it, and Hamlet is face to face with the problem upon whose 
solution the rest of the tragedy depends. 

The event or circumstance which initiates the action is called 
the Exciting Force. In Macbeth it is the prophecy of the 
witches;, in Romeo and Juliet, the meeting between Romeo and 
Juliet at the Capulets' ball. What is it in Julius Casar? Can 
you point out the Exciting Force in any of the novels you have 
read or studied? 

1. V^hat connecting link in this line with Scene i ? 

2. Eager: sharp, keen. Look up the etymology, and cf. I, 
V, 69. 

1-4. Why does the scene open with this unimportant con- 
versation? 

10-12. Cf. V, ii, 285-89. This seems to have been actually 
a Danish custom. 

12. Is it a custom? Why does Horatio not know? 

15. Manner: custom, fashion. Be careful not to confuse 
with manor. 

16. More honor'd in the breach than the observance: 
more honored by breaking than by keeping. 

17. What does "east and weist " modify? 

19. They clepe us drunkards. The Danes were notorious 
for their prowess in drinking, but Shakespeare probably has the 
English in mind as well. See especially Othello, II, iil, 79-87. 

19-20. With swinish phrase Soil our addition: by call- 
ing us swine they tarnish our honorable name. Addition: title 
of distinction — as constantly in Shakespeare. See II, i, 46-47, 
and cf. Henry V, V, ii, 366-69: "shall name your Highness 
. . . with this addition, in French, Notre tres-cher fils Henri, 
Roi d'Angleterre, Heritier de France "; Macbeth, I, iii, 105- 
06: "He bade me . . . call thee thane of Cawdor; In which 
addition, hail ! " 

20. And indeed. Hamlet recognizes the fact which lies 
behind the reputation. 



i8o Notes and Comment [ActL 

21. Perform'd at height: carried to the highest pitch of 
achievement. 

22. Our attribute: that which is attributed to us; hence, 
our reputation. 

23. In particular men. Hamlet is passing from the case 
of nations to that of individuals. It is characteristic of his 
speculative turn of mind to go off from the concrete occurrence 
into philosophical reflections, but the passage serves a dramatic 
purpose as well. For in following the rather intricate ex- 
pression of Hamlet's thought, our attention is distracted, for 
the moment, from the expected arrival of the Ghost, and its third 
appearance comes, like the others, with a shock of surprise. 
Compare the manner in which Shakespeare led up to the first 
two appearances. 

24. Mole of nature: natural blemish. For the idiom, see 
note on I, ii, 4. 

25. With this line compare Rape of Lucrece, 537-39: "Worse 
than a . . . birth-hour's blot; For marks descried in men's 
nativity Are nature's faults, not their own infamy." 

27. The o'ergrowth of some complexion. Complexion is 
here used in the sense it had in the psychology of the Middle 
Ages, i. e., a mingling in various proportions of the four liquid 
elements, blood, choler, phlegm, and black bile. There were 
four complexions, named according to the predominant element: 
the sanguine (blood), the choleric (choler or bile), the phleg- 
matic (phlegm), and the melancholy (black bile). Where the 
elements were justly mixed, health and a balanced disposition 
(or temperament) resulted. Cf. Julius Casar, V, v, 73-75: "His 
life was gentle, and the elements So mix'd in him that Nature 
might stand up And say to all the world, * This was a man ! ' " 
The undue predominance of any one element disturbed the 
balance, and the best commentary on Hamlet's phrase is found 
in Ben Jonson's lines in the Induction to Every Man out of his 
Humour: " The choler, melancholy, phlegm and blood . . . 
Receive the name of humours. Now thus far It may, by 
metaphor, apply itself Unto the general disposition: As 'when 
some one peculiar quality Doth so possess a man, that it doth 
draw All his affects, his spirits, and his powers. In their 
confluctions, all to run one <way, This may be truly said to 
be a humour." Humor, then, as Ben Jonson uses it, is almost 



Scene IV.] Notes and Comment i8i 

the exact equivalent of Hamlet's *' the o'ergrowth of some 
complexion," with its implication of a lack of proper balance 
among the elements, which may even break down the strong- 
holds of reason itself. Is Shakespeare putting into Hamlet's 
mouth what is in reality applicable to Hamlet himself? Keep 
this question in mind as you read the play. 

29-30. Some habit (like that of the Danes' excessive drink- 
ing) which permeates with its corrupting influence even the 
pleasing forms of social intercourse. 

30. That these men. " That " takes up the previous " that " 
in line 24, but the construction has changed, and it changes 
again within the next few lines. " The stamp of one defect " 
(line 31) resumes the "vicious mole of nature" (line 24). 
What is the cause of the broken structure of this long sentence? 
Is it quite the same as the cause which underlies the broken 
structure of the soliloquy in Scene II ? 

32. Nature's livery, or fortune's star: the mark which na- 
ture put on them (as if it were her badge or uniform) when 
they were born (cf. "in their birth"), or which fortune imposed 
through the influence of their star (see Introduction, p. xxvi). 

34. Undergo: carry, partake of. Cf. "to undergo such 
ample grace and honor" {Measure for Measure, I, i, 24). 

35. Shall . . . take: are sure to take. 

35. The general censure: the opinion of everybody. This 
idiom is the reverse of the "thieves of mercy" construction (see 
note on I, ii, 4) ; the adjective limits the extent or sphere of 
the noun. Cf. "mortal preparation" {All's Well, III, vi, 81) 
= preparation for death; "the hospitable canon" {Coriolanus, 
I, X, 26) := the law of hospitality; "a Roman thought" {Antony 
and Cleopatra, I, ii, 87) = a thought of Rome. 

36-38. The text of these lines is hopelessly corrupt, and not 
less than a hundred emendations have been suggested. The 
one thing that is clear is that the statement is meant to be a 
summary of what has preceded. " Eale " pretty certainly is 
" evil " (the Second and Third Quartos have " deale " for 
"devil" in II, ii, 628; cf. Scotch deil) ; "doubt" may be 
" dout," i. e., "do out," put out, banish (cf. IV, vii, 192 and 
note); "of a" may be a misreading of "often"; "dram" 
stands for a very small quantity (cf. Merchant of Venice, IV, i, 
^: "empty From any dram of mercy"). The meaning would 



1 82 Notes and Comment [ActI. 

then be: The particle of evil often drives out in men's estimation 
the whole noble substance to his [i. e., the particular man's; see 
line 23] own scandal [i. e., he becomes traduced and taxed of 
other men]. Or "his" may be equivalent to "its," in which 
case the meaning would be: drives out the whole noble substance 
so that it becomes itself a scandal. The figure seems to be 
based on the " little leaven [that] leaveneth the whole lump " 
(/ Corinthians, v, 6). 

40. Spirit of health: saved spirit — contrasted with "goblin 
damned." How is the same contrast elaborated in the next two 
lines? 

43. Questionable: demanding speech. Cf. "It would be 
spoke to" (I, i, 45, and note). 

45. King, father, royal Dane. Many modern editors punc- 
tuate "King, father; royal Dane, O, answer me." What is 
gained by this reading? 

47. Canonized: buried according to the canons or rites of 
the church. The accent is on the second syllable. 

52. Dead corse. Corpse originally meant body in general, 
whether living or dead. Cf. // Kings, xix, 35. "Complete" is 
accented on the first syllable. 

54. We fools of nature: we, the sport or playthings of 
nature. Strict grammatical construction would require " us " ; 
and "to shake" (instead of "shakest") involves an anacolu- 
thon. 

55. Disposition: here equivalent to "nature, constitution." 

63. Then I will follow it. Does Hamlet show any sign of 
hesitation? How often is this declaration repeated? 

64. What should be the fear: what do you think there is 
to be afraid of? "Should" is used (like the German sollen) 
with reference to what some one else thinks or says. 

71. Beetles. Apparently Shakespeare was the first to use 
this word as a verb. It has the general sense (probably with 
some reference to " beetle-browed " ; see Dictionary, and quota- 
tion from Henry V below) of " jut, overhang." For the account 
of the cliff (which is here a touch of Shakespeare's imagination) 
see especially Lear, IV, vi, 1-79, and cf. Henry V, III, i, 11-14: 
" let the brow o'erwhelm it As fearfully as does a galled rock 
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base, Swill'd with the wild 
and wasteful ocean," 



Scene v.] Notes and Comment 183 

73. Deprive your sovereignty of reason: take away the 
control which reason exercises. 

75. Toys of desperation: desperate fancies; cf. I, iii, 6, 
and note. 

81. My fate cries out. It is not necessary, on the ground 
of this phrase, to make Hamlet more of a fatalist than most 
men are on occasion. 

82. Artery: nerve. Nerve, in the next line, means sinew. 
The strangling of the Nemean lion (the adjective is here accented 
on the first syllable) was one of the twelve labors of Hercules. 

85. Once more, Does Hamlet lack determination or decision? 
Lets: hinders. 

91. It: the "issue" of line 89. 

91. Nay: that is, instead of leaving it to Heaven, let's take 
a hand ourselves. 



Act I. Scene V. 

In Scene IV our interest in the Ghost was subordinated to 
our immediate preoccupation with Hamlet. In the first ninety 
lines of Scene V the subordination is reversed. 

2-4. Where is this spirit? Cf. lines 10-13, and avoid confus- 
ing the passage with our idea of hell. What is "my hour"? 
Cf. I, i, 147-49; I> "> 218-19, and see Lear, III, iv, 121. 

6. Bound. Hamlet probably uses the word in the sense of 
"ready" (see III, iii, 41-42, and cf. "homeward bound"); 
the Ghost takes it up in the sense of " compelled." 

12. Crimes: faults, offenses. My days of nature: my 
natural days, my life on earth. 

17. Spheres. The stars were regarded as set in concentric 
spheres revolving about the earth (cf. IV, vii, 15). Look up 
in the Shakespeare Concordance the passages quoted under 
sphere. 

19. An end: on end. An is an older form of on. It sur- 
vives in such words as alwe, asleep (cf. " on sleep," Acts, xiii, 
36), afire, a-hunting, a-fishing. 

21. Eternal blazon: blazon of eternity — i. e., the revelation 
of the secrets of his prison-house. 

25. The Ghost's injunction constitutes the moving force of 



184 Notes and Comment [Act I. 

the drama. It must be remembered that according to the ethics 
of the period to which the old story of Hamlet belongs — and 
indeed of Shakespeare's own time — revenge in such a case was 
a duty. 

26. Does Hamlet seem to have suspected just this? 

29. Haste me to know't: let me know it at once. 

29-31. Observe the irony of the contrast between Hamlet's 
words and what actually happens. Is his simile characteristic? 
(Meditation here means " thought " ; cf . " as quick as 
thought"). 

32-33. Cf. " a Lethe'd dullness " {Antony and Cleopatra, 
II, i, 27). Lethe is that "slow and silent stream . . . the 
river of oblivion" {Paradise Lost, II, 582-83), and the fat 
water-weed clinging to its crumbling wharf has absorbed its 
" sleepy drench." Instead of roots the Folio has rots, which 
may be right; cf. Antony and Cleopatra, I, iv, 45-47: "This 
common body. Like to a vagabond flag upon the stream, Goes 
back and back, lackeying the varying tide, To rot itself with 
motion." It is possible that ivharf means here the bank of the 
river. For the construction of " Lethe wharf " see note on I, 

i", 133- 

36. The whole ear of Denmark: the ear of all Denmark. 

37. Process: account, official narrative; cf. the French 
proces verbal. 

40-41. Has Hamlet actually suspected his uncle of his 
father's murder (cf. line 26), or is it his general dislike and 
aversion that is referred to? Does I, ii, 256, indicate a definite 
suspicion, or only a general misgiving? 

42. Shakespeare does not make Claudius a contemptible 
person, and it is a mistake so to represent him on the stage. 
See Introduction, pp. xviii-xix. " Wit " of course refers to in- 
tellectual power of any sort. 

52. Those of mine. Incorrect syntax. What should it be? 
To = compared with ; cf . I. ii, 140. 

61. Secure: unsuspecting, free from anxiety or apprehen- 
sion. Cf. Ben Jonson: "Man may securely sin, but safely 
never." Shakespeare accents secure sometimes on the first, 
sometimes on the last syllable. Which is it here? 

62. Some substance having a poisonous juice, and variously 
interpreted as ebony, henbane, yew, hemlock, 



Scene v.] Notes and Comment 185 

68. Posset: curdle, coagulate. A posset was a hot drink 
composed of milk and other ingredients, curdled with wine 
or ale; cf. Macbeth, II, ii, 7. 

69. Eager: tart, biting, acid. Cf. I, iv, 2. 

71. Bark'd about: encrusted, as with bark. 

72. Lazar-like: like a leper; look up the etymology of 
lazar. It must be remembered that lepers were a familiar sight 
in England during the Middle Ages. 

77. Not having received the Eucharist, unequipped (for the 
last journey), without extreme unction. Compare a frequently 
quoted passage from Malory's Morte Darthur: " My fair 
lords, said Sir Launcelot, . . . give me my rites. So when 
he was houseled and aneled, and had all that a Christian 
man ought to have, he prayed the Bishop that his fellows might 
bear his body to Joyous Gard " (Book XXI, chapter xii). 

80. This line should probably be assigned to Hamlet. 
The next line seems to be a reply to it, and we should expect 
some such exclamation from Hamlet anyway. 

81. If thou hast nature in thee: if you have any natural 
affection. 

83. Luxury: lust, lasciviousness. Cf. Macbeth, IV, iii, 58: 
"Luxurious, avaricious, false, deceitful." Shakespeare never 
uses either luxury or luxurious in their modern sense. 

85. Taint not thy mind. The Ghost leaves entirely to 
Hamlet the details of his revenge ("howsoever thou pursuest 
this act"), but he imposes two specific injunctions. Hamlet is 
not to let his mind become corrupt — that is, his revenge must 
be sternly just, and untainted by personal feeling; and he is 
to spare his mother. What impression do you gain of the elder 
Hamlet's character? 

88. Sting: a much stronger word in older than in modern 
English. 

89. Matin: morning; used only here in this sense. 

90. Uneffectual. Either because the glow-worm's fire is 
light without heat, or because its light is lost in that of the 
morning. 

93. Fie: a stronger word then than now, and used with 
more dignified connotation. The line, however, has two extra 
syllables, and " O, fie ! " is possibly an actor's interpolation. 
But see Hamlet's similar use of it in II, ii, 617. 



1 86 Notes and Comment [ActI. 

97. This distracted globe. What gesture is Implied? 

106. Smiling. What hint as to the manners and bearing 
of the King? Cf. line 43, and recall the King's suavity in 
Scene II. 

107. My tables, etc. The trick of the scholar, rather than 
of the man of action. Hamlet probably does almost automatic- 
ally, in the terrible excitement under which he is laboring, 
something which he has been in the habit of doing. But see 
also the excellent note in Bradley, pp. 409-12. Tables: memo- 
randum book. 

no. So, uncle, there you are. Does Hamlet seem almost 
to feel that by putting the thing down in his little book he has 
really done something? Do you feel that his satisfaction in 
formulation promises well for action? 

no. Now to my word: that is, my watchword, which 
perhaps he writes down too. 

114. So be it! This probably completes "I have sworn't," 
rather than answers " Heaven secure him." 

ii5. Hamlet is imitating the falconer's call to his bird. 

123-24. It is entirely unnecessary to interpret Hamlet's 
levity as a sign of mental aberration. He is laboring under 
intense excitement, and his " wild and whirling words " are 
the expression of a nervous exaltation of a sufficiently well- 
known type. A tendency to half-hysterical levity on solemn 
occasions, when the feelings are tensely strung, is a familiar 
experience even with persons whose mental balance is not open 
to question. Add to this the fact that Hamlet cannot speak 
openly to Horatio in the presence of Marcellus. 

125. Notice the grave dignity of Horatio's reply. 

127. Circumstance: circumlocution. Cf. "To wind about 
my love with circumstance " {Merchant of Venice, I, i, 

154)- 

132. I'll go pray. Cf. "I will go seek" (II, i, loi) ; "I'll 
go watch" {Merry Wives, I, iv, 7); "go sleep" {Tempest, 
II, i, 190). 

134-35. Observe again Hamlet's unfeigned courtesy — and also 
Horatio's assurance of a friendship which cannot take offense, 
even where it may not understand. 

136. By Saint Patrick. Commentators have exercised a 
good deal of ingenuity in explaining why Hamlet should swear 



Scene v.] Notes and Comment 187 

by St. Patrick. There probably is no special reason, except 
that he is using " wild and whirling words." 

138. An honest ghost. Either an honorable ghost, or, a 
real ghost — i. e., not an evil spirit, as Horatio, in I, iv, 69 ff., 
half suspects it is. And cf. especially II, ii, 627-33. 

147. We have sworn . . . already. " In faith " (lines 
145, 146) is itself an oath. 

148. Upon my sword. Swearing on the sword was a cus- 
tom of immemorial antiquity. In Christian times the oath was 
taken on the hilt of the sword, so that one really swore by the 
cross. Cf . " swore . . . upon the cross of a Welsh hook " 
(/ Henry IF, II, iv, 371-73). What significance has Hamlet's 
"Indeed . . . indeed"? 

150. Hamlet, who has been gradually collecting himself, 
again shows "his recoil from horror to half -hysterical jesting" 
(Dowden). Truepenny: honest old fellow. The word was 
familiar to all Elizabethan theater-goers. 

156. Hie et ubique: "here and everywhere." 
163. Pioner (accented on first syllable). Look up pioneer 
in the dictionary. The reference here is to the Ghost's " working 
i' the earth." 

165. As a stranger give it welcome: show it the hospi- 
tality accorded to a stranger— that is, receive it, take it as it is, 
asking no questions, not seeking to pry into its secrets. 

167. In your philosophy. " Your " should receive the light- 
est possible accent. It is not the possessive pronoun, as if It 
were Horatio's philosophy that Hamlet meant, but it is "used 
indefinitely, not with reference to the person addressed, but to 
what Is known and common " (Schmidt). Cf. IV, iii, 22, 24, and 
add: "there is not a more fearful wild-fowl than your lion" 
(Midsummer Night's Dream, III, i, 33) ; "/our serpent of 
Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation of your sun " 
(Antony and Cleopatra, II, vii, 29-30). "That philosophy 
we talk so much about" would be a general equivalent. 
The Folios have " our "—but the stress is still on "philos- 
ophy." ^ . 

169 ff. Hamlet's behavior later in the play must be mter- 
preted in the light of this definitely expressed warning of his 
intention. See Introduction, p. xxiii. 
174. Encumber'd: perhaps, "folded" (cf. Tempest, I, 11, 



1 88 Notes and Comment [ActIL 

324: "his arms in this sad knot"). The particular gesture is 
left to the actor. 

182. Rest, rest, perturbed spirit! Hamlet's own composure 
has, in this last speech, returned again. 

187. Let us go in together. Compare with the mood of 
lines 127-32. 

189-90. These famous lines are rather an expression of 
Hamlet's temperamental distaste for the task which has been 
set him, than a passionate outcry against Fate, as they are 
sometimes interpreted. " Cursed spite " connotes a certain vex- 
ation at being disturbed. 

191. What action is implied? Compare the Duke's "Nay, 
we'll go down together, sir/' in Browning's My Last Duchess. 

Try to formulate your impression of Hamlet's character, as 
it is disclosed in Act I. Try also to realize the practical 
difficulties of the situation in which he finds himself. Suppose 
he killed the King on sight, what motive would be urged 
against him (cf. I, ii, 109) ? In what position would such 
action place his mother? What motive could he give to clear 
himself? Did anybody else hear the Ghost's message? Do 
lines 170 ff. suggest that he is planning to investigate? 



Act II. Scene I. 

The question that interests us, at the close of Act I, is: 
"What will Hamlet do?" And to that question, of course,^ 
the rest of the play is the answer. What he has done between 
the close of the first act and the beginning of the second we 
learn gradually and indirectly. That considerable time has 
intervened is clear. Laertes has been long enough in Paris 
to need more money (II, i, i) ; the ambassadors have had time 
to go to Norway and return (II, ii, 40-41) ; a great change, 
amounting to a " transformation," in Hamlet's demeanor has 
been of long enough duration to permit Rosencrantz and 
Guildenstern to arrive (presumably from Wittenberg) in re- 
sponse to a message from the King (II, ii, 1-14)- We can even 
tell pretty definitely the actual length of time that has elapsed. 
For in Act I the elder Hamlet had been not two months dead 
(I, ii, 138); in Act III he had been twice two months dead 



Scene I.] Notes and Comment 189 

(III, ii, 136) ; and between Acts II and III only one night 
intervenes (cf. II, ii, 565, and III, ii, 80). Two months, then, 
have passed, and the King is still alive. Meantime, what of 
Hamlet? 

The first scene answers the question only indirectly. Like 
the third scene of Act I it centers about the household of 
Polonius, and it falls into two easily distinguishable parts. 
The first has to do ostensibly with Laertes, but it is really the 
disclosure of Polonius's character with which it is concerned. 
The second deals directly with Ophelia, but its importance 
lies even more in what we learn through her of Hamlet than 
in what she reveals about herself. And what we learn of 
Hamlet is significant enough. 

3. You shall do marvelous wisely. Whom is Polonius 
delicately complimenting? 

6. Marry, well said, etc. Observe again the characterizing 
touch. 

7. Me. The so-called '' ethical dative." It is lightly ac- 
cented, almost an enclitic; "for me" (which we should have 
to use to give its meaning) says a little too much. Cf. " Give 
me your present to one Master Bassanio " {Merchant of Venice, 
II, ii, 115); "hear me this" {Tivelfth Night, V, i, 123). 

10. By giving the conversation this turn in this indirect way. 

11. More nearer. The double comparative is common in 
Shakespeare. Cf. (in this play) III, ii, 316; V, ii, 129; and add 
"more elder" {Merchant of Venice, IV, i, 251) ; "more braver" 
{Tempest, I, ii, 439) ; etc. 

12. Particular demands: the questions suggested in lines 
7-9. The implied contrast is not between direct questions and 
more general ones, but between any questions ("your" is per- 
haps used as in I, v, 167; see note) and the second step which 
Reynaldo is now to take — that of assuming a distant knowledge 
of Laertes, 

19. Put on him: lay to his charge. 

23. Noted and most known. Polonius has a trick of re- 
peating himself; cf. lines 15, 17. Here it is mere tautology. 

27. On what word (or words) is the emphasis in this line? 
Cf. lines 20-21. Reynaldo's and Polonius's moral standards are 
not quite the same. 

28. Season: qualify, temper; cf. I, ii, 193. 



190 Notes and Comment [Act II. 

29. Another: a further, a different. Polonius Is distin- 
guishing between the " usual slips " he has named, and im- 
moderate addiction to such vices (especially the last), which 
he expresses by " incontinency." 

31. Breathe ... so quaintly: whisper his faults so del- 
icately. For breathe, cf. line 44, and I, iii, 130. 

34. A wildness, unruliness, in untamed blood. 

35. Of general assault: that attack everybody. 

36. Wherefore should you do this? Polonius evidently 
piques himself on his astuteness as a mind-reader. 

38. A fetch of warrant: a warrantable stratagem. 

41. Mark you. What action or gesture on Polonius's part 
may be supposed to fill up this line? Cf. also line 62, and 
II, ii, 105. 

43-44. Having ever seen the youth of whom you whisper 
guilty of the aforesaid faults. 

45. Closes with you in this consequence: agrees with 
you, in thus following up what you have said. Consequence 
in Shakespeare has often its general sense of " that which 
follows." 

47. Addition. See note on I, iv, 20. 

49-51. Polonius is not far from his dotage. 

58. A': a colloquialism for he. O'ertook in's rouse; 
overcome in his cups; or (possibly), caught or surprised as 
he was drinking. 

63. This carp of truth. What does Polonius expect to find? 

64. We of wisdom and of reach: we wise and far-seeing 
people. Cf . " we of taste and feeling " {Love's Labour's Lost, 
IV, ii, 30). 

65. By circuitous ways and oblique attempts. Assays of 
bias is a metaphor from the game of bowls. The " bias " is 
that in the form or weighting of the bowl which gives it an 
oblique line of motion, so that it is aimed away from the 
Jack which it is to hit. Look up King John, II, i, 574-86, for 
a full working out of the figure. 

66. Polonius, before his senility, was probably a practiced 
diplomat, and he still delights in applying to trivial aifairs 
the elaborate machinations of statecraft. 

68. You have me: you understand me; cf. modern slang: 
** You get me." 



Scene!.] Notes and Comment 191 

71. Observe his inclination in yourself. Either, Observe 
his disposition by yourself (as contrasted with hearsay) ; or, 
Conform yourself to his inclination; or, (less probably), 
Observe your own inclination, and so judge his. 

73. And let him ply his music. It is difficult to be sure 
whether this is to be taken literally or figuratively. If it is 
literal, the upshot of all Polonius's elaborate strategy is, " Don't 
let him neglect his music!" If (as is more probable) it is 
figurative, it means: "Let him go his own gait nevertheless." 
In either case we learn something of Polonius. Has Shake- 
speare some object, related to the development of the action, 
in the rather terrific exposure of Polonius in this scene? Keep 
this in mind as you go on with the play. 

79-81. Hamlet is exhibiting the conventional marks of a 
lover, which are described in As You Like It, III, ii, 391-400. 
But he is also showing the strain of the past two months. See 
further the note on II, ii, 6. 

77-100. Why does Hamlet come to Ophelia as he does? Is 
it to see for the last time if she is the one person who can 
help him? Or is it a farewell? Or does he do it to heighten 
the impression that he is mad? In any case what has he 
learned about Ophelia? Is there anything in the scene which 
is inconsistent with the assumption that he really loved 
her? 

102. Ecstacy: madness. Cf. Ill, i, 168; III, Iv, 73-75, 138-39 
(cf. 141). 

103. Whose quality of violence destroys itself— i. e., love, 
whose very quality is violence (vehemence, lack of restraint), 
often undoes the lover. 

107. Has Polonius forgotten what he said in I, iii, 132-35? 
Is there any reason for his use of " you " in this line, as com- 
pared with "thy" and "thee" in lines 85 and 113? 

109-10. Observe that up to this point Hamlet has showed 
no sign of breaking with Ophelia. Does he know why she 
has repelled his letters and refused to see him? Keep this in 
mind for its possible bearing on the difficult question raised by 
his later attitude toward Ophelia. 

112. Quote: read, observe. Cf. "I have with exact view 
perused thee, Hector, And quoted joint by joint" (Troilus and 
Cressida, IV, v, 232-33). 



192 Notes and Comment [Acxil. 

115. Cast beyond: overshoot. Observe the irony of the 
fact that Polonius is doing precisely this again. 

118-19. If we keep this love secret, its concealment may 
work us more mischief than its declaration cause us hatred. 
Polonius recognizes that for Ophelia to aspire to marry into 
the royal family (and for him to seem to aid and abet her) 
would be regarded as treasonable. 

Act II. Scene II. 

This long scene is of the utmost importance. The struggle 
between Hamlet and the King — the two "mighty opposites " 
of V, ii, 62 — begins to appear in clearer outline, and the 
coming of the players, in which Hamlet sees and seizes an 
opportunity, points directly toward the climax of the action. 
Up to the appearance of the players, however, the center of 
interest is Hamlet's supposed madness, which is exhibited, 
with amazing skill, from various angles ; while at the very 
end of the scene, in the second of the great soliloquies, we are 
made to see Hamlet as he sees himself. Throughout the scene, 
however, Hamlet is the central figure, as he is thrown into 
relief against now one background, now another. 

1. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. These are genuine 
Danish names. A courtier named Rosencrantz was in England 
at the time of the coronation of James I, in 1603, and both 
names appear as those of Danish students at the University 
of Padua at about the same time. Curiously enough the names 
" Jorgen Rossenkrantz " and " P. Guldenstern " are found on 
the same page of a German document (dealing with Danish 
affairs) dated 1577. 

2. Moreover that: over and above that. Is the King 
sincere, or is he merely employing the " witchcraft of his wit " ? 

5. So call it. The Folio has " so I call it " — probably the 
better reading. As the line stands, " transformation " .must be 
read with five syllables. 

6. The exterior. This hint to the actor is not always taken. 
Does it throw any light upon Hamlet's appearance as Ophelia 
described it? Is it safe, in the light of the King's words, to 
take for granted that Hamlet's disordered attire at that time 
was assumed for that particular occasion? 



Scene II.] Notes and Comment 193 

7-10. Does Claudius think it is something more than the 
mere fact of the elder Hamlet's death? Observe, as you go on, 
the difference between his attitude and that of the others 
toward Hamlet's " transformation." 

10-18. Observe what the King is really asking Rosencrantz 
and Guildenstern to do, and the skill with which he disguises 
its rather sinister import. 

30. In the full bent: to the limit of our power. A figure 
drawn from archery. Bent signifies the extent to which a bow 
may be drawn; hence, degree of endurance, limit of capacity. 
Cf. Ill, ii, 401. 

33-34. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are perhaps the only 
characters in Shakespeare whom it is impossible to tell apart, 
and the fact is scarcely accidental. Their first two speeches 
are almost like an antiphony, and the way in which the 
King and Queen thank them emphasizes their lack of individ- 
uality. 

38. Heavens. The plural of heaven is frequently used in 
Shakespeare where we should use the singular. Practices here 
means simply " proceedings, actions," but the word has fre- 
quently in Shakespeare a sinister significance (cf. IV, vii, 68; 
V, ii, 328), and there is probably dramatic irony in its employ- 
ment here. 

[Stage direction]: Enter Polonius. Why not Ophelia too? 
Cf. II, i, loi, 117. 

42. Still: always, ever — the most common sense of the word 
in Shakespeare. 

47. Policy: statecraft, diplomacy. 

52. My news. Observe Polonius's self-conceit throughout 
the scene. 

55. Distemper: derangement of body or mind. The word 
(originally denoting a disturbance of the balance — or temper — 
of the elements; see note on I, iv, 27) is now applied specifically 
to diseases of animals. 

56. The main: the principal point, the main cause. 

57. What does the Queen add to the King's statement in 
line 8? 

61. Upon our first: as soon as we presented the case. 

64. Truly. To be taken with "was." 

67. Falsely borne in hand: deceived by false pretences. 



194 Notes and Comment [ActJI. 

79. Regards of safety and allowance: terms that secure 
your safety and are subject to your approval. 

80. Likes: pleases. 

81. .More consider'd time: time fitter for consideration. 
86. Expostulate: discuss. Polonius is doing his worst in 

the next lines. 

90. Brevity is the soul of wit. Wit (which must not 
here be given its modern meaning) is " wisdom." To state a 
thing briefly is the very essence of wisdom — an ironical remark 
in Polonius's mouth! The phrase is one which, as a proverbial 
expression, has come to have a quite diiferent meaning from 
tliat which it bears in the text. 

92-94. Polonius either means that if you try to define true 
madness, you are mad yourself; or (more probably) he has 
lost the thread again, and reaches the lucid conclusion that to 
be mad is — to be mad ! 

95, More matter, with less art. The Queen does not else- 
where say ironical or cutting things, and probably does not 
here. Polonius's reply shows that he takes her comment as a 
compliment, and we may regard it as a gentle hint to come 
to the point. Polonius's own idea of " art " comes out in lines 

97-99- 

104. Merely more " art." 

105. Perpend: consider. "A word used only by Pistol, 
Polonius, and the clowns" (Schmidt). What fills out the line? 
Cf. note on II, i, 41. 

no. Beautified: endowed with beauty. The word does not 
seem to have been uncommon. It occurs, for instance, in 
the dedication to Nash's Christ's Tears o'ver Jerusalem (1574) : 
" To the most beautified lady, the lady Elizabeth Carey." 
Shakespeare himself uses it elsewhere {Tivo Gentlemen of 
Verona, IV, i, 55), but with a slightly different turn. — Polonius 
is setting himself up as a literary connoisseur. Cf. lines 488-89, 
527. 

113. These: these be deli'vered. A common formula in 
superscriptions. Cf. Tnvo Gentlemen of Verona, III, i, 248-50: 
*' Thy letters . . , shall be deliver'd Even in the milk-white 
bosom of thy love." 

114. Notice the skill with which Shakespeare keeps 
the audience in mind. The Queen's question anticipates 



Scene II.] Notes and Comment 195 

any possible misunderstanding of what it is that is being 
read. 

ii6-ig. Hamlet is using doubt in more than one sense. In 
the first, second, and fourth lines it probably has its ordinary 
meaning; in the third it means "suspect." 

120. Numbers: metres. It has been suggested that "reckon" 
here means to " number metrically " — i. e., to set down in 
numbers. 

124. Whilst this machine is to him: while this body is 
his. Machine was not a prosaic word in Shakespeare's time. 
Why has it become so now? Compare its use in Wordsworth's 
" She was a Phantom of delight." 

109-24. Hamlet's letter is undoubtedly to be taken as gen- 
uine, and may be supposed to have been written before his 
letters were repelled (II, i, 109). The first part is in the 
artificial style that was the fashion of the day (which seems 
strange to us because it nvas a passing fashion), but at line 
120 there is an outburst of real feeling that sweeps away the 
affectation, while in the closing words Hamlet reverts to his 
own characteristic phraseology. Its mood is complex — but Ham- 
let was not a simple person. 

125. In obedience. Cf. line 107. Polonius .takes no chances 
of any possible disregard of his part in the matter. 

126. More above: moreover. 

132-34. Had he seen it at all, till he was told? Cf. I, iii, 
90 ff. 

136. Probably: If I had locked it up as a secret, as in a 
desk or note-book. 

137. Or given my heart a winking: or bade my heart shut 
its eyes. Cf. Acts, xvii, 30: "the times of this ignorance God 
winked at." 

138. With idle sight. Either, sight that did not perceive; 
or, sight that did not take it seriously. 

139. Round: roundly, directly; cf. Ill, i, 191; III, iv. 5. 
141. Out of thy star: out of the sphere in which thy star 

moves; hence, above thy rank. Cf. Tiuelfth Night, II, v, 156; 
" In my stars I am above thee." 

148. Watch: sleeplessness, insomnia. 

149. Lightness: light-headedness. Most of what Polonius 
says here may have been true (although not for the reason 



196 



Notes and Comment [Acxil. 



that he gives), but he cannot be regarded as a trustworthy 
witness. 

159. The center: the earth — which, according to the Ptole- 
maic astronomy, was the center of the universe. Cf. Troilus 
and Cressida, I, iii, 85: "The heavens themselves, the planets, 
and this center." 

160. Four hours. Four was used colloquially as an in- 
definite numeral. The emendation for is unnecessary. 

162. I'll loose my daughter to him: i. e., I'll give her 
free access to him. Polonius's phrase, however, is not very 
happy. 

169. Presently: immediately, on the spot — not (as in modern 
usage) " before long, shortly." Soon, by and by, and directly 
(all of which originally meant "immediately") have suffered 
the same change. 

172. God-a-mercy: gramercy; i. e., thank you. 

174. A fishmonger. Whether Hamlet is doing more than 
using the most incongruous word he can think of, is doubtful. 
Fishmonger seems to have had certain coarse associations in 
the slang of the day, and Hamlet may possibly have used it 
for that reason. 

182. A god kissing carrion. The Quartos and Folios have 
good; god is Warburton's emendation, and is probably correct. 
Cf. Cymbeline, III, iv, 166: "the greedy touch of common- 
kissing Titan"; / Henry IV, II, iv, 134: "Didst thou never 
see Titan kiss a dish of butter?" {Titan in Shakespeare 
always refers to the sun; cf. note on I, ii, 140). The idea that 
the sun could produce life was prevalent in the superstitions 
of the time. Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, II, vii, 29-31: "Your 
serpent of Nile is bred now of your mud by the operation of 
your sun." "A good kissing carrion" would mean carrion 
good to kiss, and would then refer to " a dead dog." 

185-86. Hamlet is intentionally obscure. And since a man 
who is trying to talk like a madman will talk as unlike his 
usual self as possible (cf. again lines 4-7), we have no right 
to draw any conclusions concerning Ophelia from what Hamlet 
says here. 

188. How say you by that? What do you say to that? 
or, What have you to say about that? — not, What do you 
mean by that ? By z:i: concerning. 



Scene II.] Notes and Comment 197 

190-gi. There is nothing that Polonius does not know. 

196. Between who? Hamlet intentionally misunderstands 
Polonius, and takes matter in the sense of " difficulty, quarrel." 
"Who" for "whom" is frequent in Shakespeare. Cf. I, ii, 190. 

204. Honesty: decency. 

205. Should: would inevitably. 

221. Except my life. Such repetition is one of Hamlet's 
characteristic tricks. Cf. I, ii, 132, 135, 224, 237; I, v, 93, io6, 
134-35, 183; II, ii, 194; III, i, 92; III, ii, 191. 

228-30. Notice the genuine cordiality of Hamlet's greeting. 

258-59. Your ambition makes it one. Rosencrantz and 
Guildenstern have adopted the King's theory, and are carrying 
out his instructions (lines 15-16) to gather as much as they 
may glean. But it is worth noting who does most of the 
questioning! 

270. Outstretched. Various interpretations have been sug- 
gested ; as, wide-famed ; glorified ; a reference to the strutting 
stage heroes, etc. But Hamlet is intentionally riddling, and 
since he says he cannot reason, we need not consider too 
curiously his fantastic conceit. 

274. No such matter: not at all. 

277. In the beaten way of friendship: speaking as friend 
to friend. 

282. A halfpenny: at a halfpenny. 

283. Were you not sent for? etc. Hamlet's suspicions have 
been aroused (perhaps by Rosencrantz's quibbling answer), and 
his tone changes. 

287. But to the purpose. Either, only so that it he to 
the purpose; or (if it is taken as sarcasm), except to the pur- 
pose. 

295. The consonancy of our youth: our "being of so 
young years brought up " together. Consonancy = agreement. 

297. A better proposer: a better speaker. Hamlet, in this 
speech, is appealing directly to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, 
as (perhaps) he had appealed by his silence to Ophelia, for 
the support of friendship in the net of intrigue that he feels 
closing in on him. And the touch of self-depreciation in " a 
better proposer " need not be taken as assumed. 

301. Of you: on you. 

305. Prevent your discovery: forestall your disclosure. 



igS Notes and Comment [ActII. 

318. Express: perfectly fitted to its function or purpose. 

321. Quintessence: literally, fifth essence. In the old phi- 
losophies it was the subtle substance that remained after the 
four elements were eliminated; hence, "the most subtle com- 
ponent part of anything, or that which makes it what it is " 
(Kittredge). 

332-39. Hamlet is giving a brief list of some of the stock 
characters in the Elizabethan drama. 

335. The humorous man: the man who is full of humors 
(see note on I, iv, 27), and so is fantastic, affected, whimsical. 
Ben Jonson's comedies — especially E'very Man in his Humour 
and Every Man out of his Humour — are full of such characters. 
The word is not to be taken in its modern sense. 

337. Tickle o* the sere: easily moved (to laughter). The 
sere was " the balance-lever of a gun-lock " ; tickle means 
" unstable, precarious " (cf. Measure for Measure, I, ii, 176- 
78: "Thy head stands so tickle on thy shoulders that a milk- 
maid, if she be in love, may sigh it off"). A sentence of 
Crockett's serves as a fair paraphrase of Hamlet's meaning: 
" Her laugh was hung on a hair-trigger, to go off at every 
jest and fancy." 

338. Or the blank verse shall halt for't. That is, If she 
can't talk freely in blank verse, then let the blank verse go 
lame, in order that she may — for speak freely she shall. 

346. Inhibition: hindrance, suspension (of performances). 
It does not necessarily refer to a formal prohibition. The " late 
innovation" (i. e., the popularity of the children's companies) 
had the effect of a prohibition. 

355. On the top of question: at the top of their voices — 
above the pitch of conversation. 

356. Tyrannically: boisterously. Thus, Bottom in the Mid- 
summer Night's Dream says: "Yet ray chief humor is for a 
tyrant: I could play Ercles rarely, or a part to tear a cat in, 
to make all split." And after he has recited his ranting verses 
{Midsummer Night's Drearn, II, i, 33-40) he adds: "This is 
... a tyrant's vein." 

357-58. Bcrattle the common stages: berate the ordinary 
theaters, where the men's companies played. 

358. Many wearing rapiers are afraid of goose-quills: 
many fashionable gentlemen are afraid of being satirized (i. e., 



Scene II.] Notes and Comment 199 

by the dramatists who write for the children's companies), if 
they go to the ordinary theaters. 

363. The quality: the profession — in this case, of players. 
Actors to-day call themselves " the profession." 

364-68. The boys in the children's companies were choristers; 
when their voices changed, they would themselves have to be- 
come " common players," if they went on acting at all. But 
(Hamlet asks) by acting in plays which satirize (and so tend 
to drive out) the men's companies, are they not really cutting 
off their own future prospects ? Succession = that which is to 
come, futurity. 

369. Much to do. The phrase as here used is on its way 
to the substantive form, to-do (cf. ado), in the sense of "busi- 
ness, fuss." 

370. Tarre them: set them on to fight. The word is used 
frequently of dogs; cf. King John, IV, i, 116-17: "Like a dog 
that is compell'd to fight, Snatch at his master that doth tarre 
him on." 

372. Argument: the plot of a play; cf. Ill, ii, 342. The 
general sense of the passage is: No manager would bid anything 
for a play unless it added its quota to this popular controversy 
between the poets and the players — " the war of the theaters," 
as it is sometimes called. Went to cuffs = came to blows. 

377. Carry it away: carry things before them. 

378. Hercules and his load. Hercules bearing the world 
(a reference to one of the twelve labors) was the sign of the 
Globe Theater, so that Shakespeare is here alluding to his own 
theater, which, like the rest, is suffering from the controversy. 

380. It is not very strange. The connection lies in the 
idea of following the fashion. People do it in the case of the 
theaters; they are just as fickle In the case of kings. 

384. 'Sblood: an abbreviation of "God's blood." Cf. line 
604 and note. 

384. In this: that is, in this following of fashion. 

387. Gentlemen, you are welcome to Elsinore: addressed 
to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, not to the players. 

388. The appurtenance of: that which belongs to. 

390. Comply with you in this garb: observe the forms 
of courtesy with you in this fashion. Extent is " behavior, 
welcome." Hamlet means to welcome the players warmly, but 



200 Notes and Comment [Act II. 

he does not wish to humiliate his one-time friends in the 
presence of others by any show of coldness. 

393. My uncle-father. " A little more than kin " ! 

396-98. I am mad only when the wind's north-north-west; the 
rest of the time my wits are keen enough. Another of Hamlet's 
riddling remarks — this time suggested by the sport of falconry. 
Handsaw is probably a corruption of hernsanv (heron), and 
the phrase is proverbial in its origin. 

406-07. You say right, sir, etc. Hamlet is addressing 
Rosencrantz, and intentionally misleading Polonius as to the 
subject of the conversation. 

410. When Roscius was an actor in Rome. Perhaps 
Hamlet means to imply that Polonius's news is rather old too. 
And of course his mention of actors maliciously takes the wind 
out of Polonius's sails. Roscius was the greatest of Roman 
actors. 

412. Buz, buz! Blackstone says that "Buz used to be an 
interjection at Oxford when any one began a story that was 
generally known before"; cf. modern slang, "chestnuts." 

414. Probably a line from some old ballad. 

416. The list is of course intended to raise a laugh, but it 
is after all merely a somewhat exaggerated classification of 
actual Elizabethan plays. Shakespeare's own plays were divided 
into tragedies, comedies, and histories; As You Like It might 
very well be called "pastoral-comical"; Richard III and some 
others of the histories, "tragical-historical"; plays like Winter's 
Tale are " tragical-comical " — and so on. 

418-19. Scene individable, or poem unlimited: plays that 
observe the unity of place, or plays that are not bound down 
by the unities. 

419-20. Seneca . . . Plautus. Seneca wrote tragedies, 
Plautus, comedies, and both powerfully influenced the Eliza- 
bethan drama. 

420-21. For the law of writ and the liberty: for follow- 
ing the text and for speaking extempore. 

422. Jephthah. For the story of Jephthah's daughter, see 
Judges, xi. 

426-27. See the Variorum for the first stanza of the ballad 
from which these lines are taken. Hamlet of course means that 
Polonius shall tell the King of his harping on Ophelia, 



Scene II.] Notes and Comment 201 

432-33. Follows. Hamlet means " follows logically," but 
wilfully takes Polonius's use of the word to mean " follow in 
the song." 

438. The first row of the pious chanson. The First 
Quarto has " the first verse of the godly ballet," which suffi- 
ciently explains the phrase of the text. 

439. My abridgment: that which abridges, or cuts short, 
my talk — probably with a play on the other meaning of the 
word, i. e., an entertainment. Cf. Midsummer Night's Dream, 
V, i, 39-40: "What abridgement have you for this evening? 
What masque? What music?" 

440 ff. Observe the charming courtesy of Hamlet's "extent 
to the players." 

444-47. My young lady and mistress, etc. Women's parts 
were always taken by boys in Shakespeare's time, and Hamlet 
is addressing one of the younger actors, who has grown since 
he saw him last. A chopine was a very high-heeled shoe. 

448. Cracked within the ring. If the crack in a coin 
extended within the ring that surrounded the sovereign's head, 
the coin ceased to be current. There is probably a play on 
the word ring, with reference to the boy's voice, which must 
soon change. Cf. note on lines 364-68. 

450. Like French falconers. The French falconers were 
regarded as the best in the world, and the phrase " fly at any 
thing we see" is probably used in commendation. The sugges- 
tion that it is used contemptuously is not in harmony with 
Hamlet's characterization of the speech they do " fly at " as 
one he " chiefly loved." 

451. A taste of your quality: a sample of your profes- 
sional skill. See line 363. Passionate means "full of feel- 
ing." 

454. Me. See note on II, i, 7. 

457. Caviare to the general: not palatable to the multi- 
tude. The phrase has become proverbial. Relish for caviare 
(a Russian delicacy, made of sturgeon's roe) is an acquired 
taste. 

459. Cried in the top of mine: were superior to mine. 

461. Modesty: freedom from exaggeration or excess. Cf. 
Ill, ii, 21; V, i, 230. 

462. Sallet. Our word salad — here used, probably, with 



202 Notes and Comment [ActII. 

reference to ribald jokes. Hamlet's approbation of the absence 
of salaciousness may be taken as expressing Shakespeare's own 
judgment, for Shakespeare's plays stand out among those of 
his day for their comparative freedom from this sort of pander- 
ing to the taste of " the million," The whole speech, indeed, 
is interesting as probably an expression of Shakespeare's own 
views. 

466. More handsome than fine. Cf. "rich, not gaudy" 
(I, iii, 71), for the same idea. 

468. -ffineas' tale to Dido: the story of the fall of Troy, 
which Virgil gives in the second book of the JEneid. There- 
about of it = at that part of it. 

472 ff. The speech here given is in many ways puzzling. 
Hamlet, speaking in such a way that we seem to read Shake- 
speare's own judgment between the lines, praises it highly; 
yet to us it seems turgid, if not bombastic. One thing at least 
is clear: Hamlet is not speaking ironically when he commends 
the speech, and the assumption that in it Shakespeare is travesty- 
ing the style of some rival playwright is untenable. Were 
that his purpose, he would be distracting attention from his 
own play to something wholly unrelated to it, at one of its 
most crucial moments. Instead of that the speech has the most 
direct bearing upon the action of Hamlet itself. The first 
actor is profoundly moved by his lines, and it is this emotion 
of his that stirs Hamlet to his depths, and brings him back 
to the delayed execution of his task. Shakespeare himself, then, 
pretty certainly thought the speech " more handsome than fine," 
and if one or two things are remembered, his opinion may not 
seem so strange. For one thing, the speech is, when well 
delivered, even to us a vigorous and stirring piece of declama- 
tion. Moreover, as both Coleridge and Schlegel have pointed 
out, the style of Hamlet itself is necessarily more elevated than 
that of ordinary speech. If this passage (which is epic rather 
than dramatic) is to stand out against a background already 
heightened, its own style must be heightened still more. And 
finally, an Elizabethan audience (and probably Shakespeare 
himself) had a certain relish for what often seems to us bom- 
bastic. It is probable that Shakespeare wrote this passage 
specifically for its place In Hamlet, and it is not Impossible 
that he meant to challenge comparison with a similar passage 



Scene II.] Notes and Comment 203 

in an older play called Dido, Queen of Carthage, probably by 
Marlowe an^ Nash. See the Variorum Hamlet, Vol. I, p. 185, 
for the lines in question. 

472. Pyrrhus. A son of Achilles. He was one of the 
Greeks who was concealed in the wooden horse; he slew Priam, 
king of Troy, and married Hector's wife, Andromache. 

472. The Hyrcanian beast: the tiger. Cf. "the Hyrcan 
tiger" {Macbeth, III, iv, loi). The Hyrcanian forest, south 
of the Caspian Sea, was supposed to be inhabited by peculiarly 
fierce tigers. 

479. Gules. An heraldic term (cf. " heraldry more dis- 
mal") for "red." Cf. Timon of Athens, IV, iii, 59: "with 
man's blood paint the ground, gules, gules.'' Trick'd (here=: 
" adorned ") is also a term of heraldry. 

482. Tyrannous: savage. See note on line 356. 

496. Ilium: the citadel of Troy. Senseless is "without 
feeling, insentient." That Is, the very citadel itself, insentient 
though it is, seems to feel the blow that fells its ruler, and like 
him crashes to the ground. 

502. A painted tyrant: a tyrant in a painting. Cf. IV, 
vii, 109-10; Macbeth, V, viii, 25-27; and Coleridge, Rime of 
the Ancient Mariner: " Day after day . . . We stuck, nor 
breath nor motion; As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted 
ocean." 

503. Like a neutral to his will and matter: like one 
indifferent to his purpose and to the business in hand. 

506. Rack: flying clouds in the upper air. Hudson aptly 
quotes Fletcher: "sailing rack that gallops upon the wings 
of angry winds"; Keats: "Cloudy rack slow journeying in 
the west"; Longfellow: "driving rack of the rain-cloud." Cf. 
Tempest, IV, i, 156; Antony and Cleopatra, IV, xiv, 10. 

509. Region: sky. " Originally a division of the sky marked 
out by the Roman augurs" (Clarendon Press). Cf. line 607, 
and Sonnet XXXIII, 12: "the region cloud." 

513. Remorse: pity — the most frequent meaning in Shake- 
speare. Cf. " the tears of soft remorse " {King John, IV, HI, 
50), and add Merchant of Venice, IV, I, 20; King John, II, i, 
478. 

518-19. Bowl the broken hub of Fortune's wheel from heaven 
down ^0 hell. 



204 Notes and Comment [ActII. 

522. A jig. Here probably a comic song, accompanied by a 
dance. 

525. Mobled: muffled, with wrapped-up head. Hamlet's 
query seems to indicate that the word was a rare one. Polonius, 
who had been snubbed a moment before, hastens to rehabilitate 
himself as a critic. 

529. Bisson rheum: blinding tears. 

537. Mincing. A word that did not have in Shakespeare's 
time the somewhat trivial associations it now has. 

541. Passion: sorrow; cf. line 453. "Passion" is the object 
of "made." 

550. You were better have: it were better you should 
have. 

554. Much better. Polonius has very properly meant by 
"desert" the real merits of the players. But Hamlet, as usual, 
twists his words into another meaning. 

563. The Murder of Gonzago. Shakespeare is leading up, 
as we shall see, to the climax of the play. 

566-67. A speech of some dozen or sixteen lines. The 
question whether this passage can be identified or not will be 
taken up in connection with the play itself, in Act HI. 

570-71. Look you mock him not. Observe the dignity 
and consideration of Hamlet's caution. For his own ends he 
has taken liberties with Polonius, but that must not lead others 
to do so too. 

578. Passion: emotion of any kind. Here used In a more 
general sense than in line 541 above. 

579. His ov/n conceit: his conception of the character he 
is playing. 

580. Her working: his soul's working. Soul is frequently 
feminine in Shakespeare; cf. IH, ii, 68. 

582-83. His whole function suiting, etc.: all his faculties 
conspiring to give fit expression to the conception in his mind. 
Notice how Shakespeare has led up to all this by means of 
Polonius's remark in lines 542-43. 

584. Compare the broken lines in this soliloquy (584, 593, 
603, 610, 616) with those in II, i (see note on II, i, 41). Are 
Hamlet's pauses to be filled out by the actor in the same way 
as Polonius's? 



Scene IL] Notes and Comment 205 

587. Motive: moving cause. Notice that cue still keeps the 
idea of the stage before us. 

589. General ear: ear of the public. 

590. Free: here, free from guilt. 

591. Confound and amaze are here exceedingly strong 
words, and should be looked up. 

594. Peak: "to move about dejectedly or silently; to mope; 
'to make a mean figure; to sneak'" (Oxford Dictionary— quot- 
ing Dr. Johnson). Rascal is probably intended to call up also 
the sense of "a lean and worthless deer" (cf. / Henry Vh 
IV, ii, 45-52). With muddy-mettled compare "high-mettled," 

etc. 

595. John-a-dreams: a fellow who goes mooning about. 
Unpregnant of = unapt for, indifferent to. 

597. Property: not quite in its modern sense, but rather 
"his crown, his wife, everything, in short, which he might be 
said to be possessed of, except his life" (Furness). 

598. Defeat: undoing, destruction. Used here, like so many 
words in Shakespeare, in a sense nearer than ours to its 
etymological meaning. 

604. 'Swounds: an abbreviation of "God's wounds —used 
also in the form Zounds. Cf. 'shlood, II, ii, 384- 

605. The gall was supposed to be the seat of courage; 
cf. Troilus and Cressida, I, iii, 237: "when they would seem 
soldiers, they have galls." The pigeon (or dove) was be- 
lieved to have no gall (the bitter secretion of the liver), and 
this was held to account for its proverbial meekness. 

607. The region kites: the kites of the air. See notes on 

I, iii, 133; II, ii, 509. T •• ^ 

609. Kindless: unnatural. See note on 1, 11, 65. 
611. This is most brave: this is a fine thing. 
614. Unpack my heart with words: relieve the oppression 
of my heart by words. Cf. Macbeth, V, iii, 44-45: "Cleanse 
the stuif'd bosom of that perilous stuff Which weighs upon the 

heart." 

617. About, my brain! Right about face, my brain! Now 
that he has unpacked his heart, Hamlet begins to think. Com- 
pare his "Hold, hold, my heart" in I, v, 93- With the Fie 
upon't! " of this line, compare the " O, fie ! " of that. 

620. Presently. See note on line 170. 



2o6 Notes and Comment [Act III. 

631. Such spirits: such conditions of mind as the melan- 
choly to which Hamlet refers. 

633. The play's the thing. Just what is it that Hamlet 
means to test by the play? What has he actually done during 
the two months since the Ghost's injunction? What has he 
accomplished by his assumption of madness? Go back over 
this scene and try to summarize the changes of his mood. How 
do matters now stand between him and the King? 



Act hi. Scene I. 

At the end of Act II Hamlet had at last made up his mind 
to act. The present scene gives us the state of things immedi- 
ately before his plan goes into execution. But the King is on 
the point of action too, and even while Hamlet is preparing to 
put him to the test, the King is actually carrying out his plan, 
suggested by Polonius, to form his own conclusions about Ham- 
let. And when Hamlet appears, it is again not of his plan, or 
even of revenge, that he is thinking, but of death, as after all, per- 
haps, the best way out. The significance of the terrible interview 
with Ophelia may be best considered in the notes. At the close 
of the interview, the King is convinced that Hamlet is not 
really mad, but is brooding over something that bodes danger, 
and without hesitation he determines to act, by sending Hamlet 
off to England. Polonius characteristically suggests another 
" assay of bias," and at the end of the scene the situation stands 
thus: Hamlet is about to test the King's guilt by means of the 
play; the Queen is prepared to probe still further Hamlet's 
purpose, by an interview after the play; and the King is ready, 
if the interview warrants it, to take instant and decisive action. 
The opposing forces are thus arrayed against each other, and 
at the end of the scene the turning point of the play is at 
hand. 

1. Drift of circumstance: roundabout method. Cf. "drift 
of question" (II, i, 10). 

2. Puts on: clothes himself in. The phrase does not here 
carry any implication of pretence. 

7. Guildenstern is putting it pretty mildly! 

13-14. Rosencrantz is saving his face by misrepresenting the 



Scene I.] Notes and Comment 207 

conversation. As a matter of fact, Hamlet has done the de- 
manding. Question = talk, conversation. 

14-15. Assay him to: try (to bring) him to. Notice the 
skill with which Shakespeare is leading up again to the play. 
Turn back to II, ii, 15, and see how he had begun the prepara- 
tion for it even then. That Shakespeare was the most skillful 
of playwrights, as well as a supremely great dramatist, should 
never be forgotten. 

26. Give him a further edge: whet him on. 

31. Affront: confront, meet face to face. The regular 
meaning of the word in Shakespeare. Cf. Winter's Tale, V, i, 
73"75 • " Unless another . . . affront his eye." 

43. Gracious. A formal epithet of courtesy, used in ad- 
dressing persons of high rank. 

46-49. It need not be supposed that Polonius is expressing 
any qualms of conscience over the trick he is playing, for he 
obviously has none. He is merely improving the opportunity 
to indulge in a pious reflection. 

5I-53' The harlot's painted cheek is not more ugly, com- 
pared with the paint that disguises it, than is my deed, com- 
pared with the words with which I mask it. Why does Shake- 
speare make Claudius disclose his guilt just at this point? 
What light does the disclosure throw upon the character of the 
man himself? 

56 ff. In the First Quarto the passage corresponding to lines 
56-169 (including the soliloquy and the interview with Ophelia) 
comes between lines 168 and 169 of what is now the second 
scene of Act II. That is to say, in the earlier form of the play 
the substance of the present scene was introduced before the 
conversation (then much shorter), with Rosencrantz and Guil- 
denstern, the interview with the players, and Hamlet's plan to 
use the Murder of Gonzago as a test of the King's guilt. By 
shifting the scene from its earlier to its present position the 
dramatic effect of the sharp confronting of the King's and 
Hamlet's opposing plans, at the very moment of the climax, 
is greatly enhanced. 

56. Is this the first time that Hamlet has dallied with the 
idea of suicide? Cf. I, ii, 131-37. 

59. To take arms against a sea of troubles: to take up 
arms against troubles that sweep upon us like a sea. This is 



2o8 Notes and Comment [Act III. 

sometimes criticised as a mixed metaphor. But there is all the 
difference in the world between the mixing of incongruous 
images that is due to a feeble imagination, and the swift passage 
of a powerful imagination (as in this case) from one idea to 
another related one. " Sea " is often used in the sense of host, 
multitude, any great quantity; cf. "a sea of care" {Rape of 
Lucrece, iioo) ; "this great sea of joys" {Pericles^ V, i, 194). 
It is barely possible that Shakespeare may have had in mind a 
very old Celtic custom of actually taking arms against the 
sea; but it is not necessary to assume that to justify the 
metaphor. 

65. There's the rub. Another figure from the game of 
bowls (cf. note on II, i, 65). A rub was an obstacle which 
diverted the bowl from its course. Cf. Richard II, III, iv, 3-5: 

Madam, we'll play at bowls. — 'Twill make me think the 
world is full of rubs. And that my fortune runs against the 
bias"; Coriolanus, III, i, 60: "this . . . rub laid ... I' the 
plain way of his merit." 

67. This mortal coil: this turmoil of mortality, the pother 
of this mortal life. Cf . " the wedding being there to-morrow, 
there is a great coil to-night " {Much Ado, III, iii, 100) ; 
" Yonder's old coil at home" {ibid., V, ii, 98). 

75. Quietus: the final settlement of an account. From the 
law-phrase: quietus est, it (the account) is discharged. Cf. 
Sonnet CXXVI, 11-12: " Her audit . . . answer'd must be, 
And her quietus is to render thee." 

76. A bare bodkin: probably, a mere (not an unsheathed) 
bodkin. Bodkin was a name for a small dagger. 

77. Grunt: groan. An entirely dignified word in Shake- 
speare's time. Cf. Fabyan's Chronicles: "Many knyghts . . . 
lay grunting upon the earth." With Hamlet's words cf. Julius 
Casar, IV, i, 21-22: "He shall but bear them as the ass bears 
gold, To groan and sweat under the business." 

79-80. Avoid the common misquotation: "That bourn from 
which no traveler returns." Bourn 1= boundary. Hamlet is 
stating a general truth ; he is not thinking of the entirely ex- 
ceptional case of the Ghost — and even the Ghost has not re- 
turned to stay. 

83. Conscience: consciousness, — i. e., knowledge that this is 
so. This sense of the word is very common in Shakespeare's 



Scene!.] Notes and Comment 209 

time (see the examples in the Oxford Dictio?iary, under I, i), 
and is the only one that fits the context. The fact that Shake- 
speare uses the word elsewhere in the more familiar sense 
(e. g., Richard III, I, iv, 124-50 — especially line 138: "it [con- 
science] makes a man a coward ") is no argument for that 
meaning here. Its significance must in each case be deter- 
mined by its context, and the use of " thus " connects it directly 
with what goes before. 

84-85. The native hue of resolution . . . the pale cast 
of thought. The reference is to the ruddy color associated 
with the sanguine temperament as contrasted with the pallor 
(cast =:^ tinge) of melancholy (cf. Midsummer Night's Dream, 
I, i, 14-15: "melancholy . . . the pale companion"). Thought 
in Shakespeare frequently means anxious or melancholy thought. 

86. Pitch: the summit of a falcon's flight. The Folios have 
pith, with which cf. I, iv, 22. 

88. Soft you now: hush, be quiet. Addressed to him- 
self. 

89. Nymph. Frequently used as a conventional term for a 
young and beautiful woman. Where is the emphasis in the 
next line? 

91. For this many a day. Observe the gentle reproach 
implied in Ophelia's words. 

99-100. Their . . . these. Their refers to the " words of 
so sweet breath composed " ; these, to " the things." 

103. Honest. The word means either " chaste " or " truth- 
ful." Hamlet is possibly playing on both meanings. 

109. Commerce. Ophelia is using a synonym for Hamlet's 
" discourse." 

115. Now the time gives it proof. It should not be for- 
gotten, in reading what follows, that what Hamlet has learned 
about his mother has shaken his faith in all women, Ophelia 
included. 

119-20. Inoculate here means "graft"; our old stock 
(which carries out the figure) is our old evil nature; it refers 
back to our old stock. The sense is: You can't so graft a new 
nature upon the old evil one that some smack of the old will 
not be left. 

123-31. Hamlet's self-accusation must be taken with some 
allowance for the highly-wrought frame of mind in which he 



210 Notes and Comment [Act ill. 

speaks. It Is rather the latent possibilities of human nature 
than his own actual commissions that he has in mind. 

133. It is frequently said that at this point Hamlet catches 
sight of Polonius behind the arras, and that the terrible bitter- 
ness of the speeches that follow is due to his knowledge that 
Ophelia has lied in her answer, and to his intention to speak, 
now, for the ears of Polonius and the King. And on the stage 
Polon«ius is frequently made to peep around the curtain at this 
moment. But if Shakespeare had meant this, it is unlike him 
not to have made it clear. It is very possible — even probable — 
that Hamlet suspects the presence of Polonius, and that is 
sufficient to explain his attitude. 

134. At home, my lord. Much has been made — often 
rather stupidly — of Ophelia's lie. There are few better com- 
ments than Professor Bradley's: "I will not discuss these 
casuistical problems; but, if ever an angry lunatic [and Ophelia 
believes Hamlet to be mad] asks me a question which I cannot 
answer truly without great danger to him and to one of my 
relations, I hope that grace may be given me to imitate Ophelia. 
Seriously, at such a terrible moment was it weak, was it not 
rather heroic, in a simple girl not to lose her presence of mind 
and not to flinch, but to go through her task for Hamlet's sake 
and her father's?" {Shakespearean Tragedy, p. 163). 

144. You. Hamlet here passes from Ophelia (whom, since 
line 120, he has been addressing as "thou") to all women, and 
the bitterness of his next speech is not directed against Ophelia 
alone. See note on line 115. 

151. You amble, and you lisp: you walk and talk affect- 
edly. 

151. Nick-name God's creatures: give affected names to 
whatever God has made. 

152. Make your wantonness your ignorance: excuse your 
wantonness by pretending ignorance. Wantonness, in Eliza- 
bethan English, does not necessarily mean unchastity; it may 
simply mean affectation. Either sense fits the context here, and 
it is probable that Hamlet means both — i. e., immodesty veiled 
under the affected phraseology of the day. 

153. It hath made me mad. Hamlet expects to be re- 
ported — even if he does not actually realize that he is over- 
heard. 



Scene IL] Notes and Comment 211 

156. All but one. A hint let drop for the King's ear. 

159. The order of the two groups of three words does not 
correspond, and the First Quarto reverses the order of " sol- 
dier's " and " scholar's." But Shakespeare elsewhere deals freely 
with similar constructions. Cf. Merchafit of Venice, III, i, 64- 
65 ; Rape of Lucrece, 902. 

160. The hope and the flower of this fair kingdom. 

161. The mold. of form: the model of courtly behavior. 
167. Blown youth: youth in its full flower. 

169. What I have seen: that is, Hamlet as he was. 

171-72. The King is shrewder than the rest, and his diagno- 
sis is perfectly sound. 

174. Disclose: the breaking of the shell in hatching. Cf. 
V, i, 310. 

175 ff. Observe the promptness with which the King acts. 
There is no need to suppose that, at this time, his plan included 
more than he here states. 

182. Puts. Brains is treated as a singular. 

193. Find him: detect his secret. 



Act III. Scene II. 

The rising action of the tragedy — that part of its movement 
in which the hero is the aggressive force — reaches its highest 
point in this scene and the next. By the splendidly dramatic 
device of the play, Hamlet has forced the King to virtual 
confession; in the next scene he has him for a moment abso- 
lutely in his power. He refuses the opportunity — and from this 
point on the King becomes the aggressor, and Hamlet is put 
more and more on the defensive. The turning point or climax 
of the play, therefore, comes in Scene II — or, better, in Scenes II 
and III taken together. What follows constitutes the so-called 
falling action, in which the hero is forced gradually to the wall. 

In what scene is the climax of Macbeth? Of Julius Casar? 
Of Romeo and Juliet? 

I. The speech. The " dozen or sixteen lines " referred to 
in II, ii, 566. Hamlet's advice to the players embodies Shake- 
speare's own mature opinions about the actor's art. 

6. Use all: do everything. 



212 Notes and Comment [Act III. 

12. The groundlings: the people who stood, literally on the 
ground, in the pit of the Elizabethan theater. The admission 
to the pit was a penny, and no seats were provided. 

15. Termagant. An imaginary deity of the Saracens, rep- 
resented, in the mediseval romances and miracle-plays, as a 
boisterous and overbearing figure. The word is now used as a 
synonym for virago. 

16. It out-herods Herod: it out-rants the veriest ranter 
of all. The role of Herod, as the most blustering and bombastic 
personage in the miracle-plays, was still familiar to Shake- 
speare's audience. 

18. Not . . . neither. The heaping up of negatives was 
perfectly good English in Shakespeare's time. Cf. nor . . . 
not, in line 4. 

21. Modesty: moderation; cf. II, ii, 461. The gist of Ham- 
let's advice is the avoidance of extremes. 

22. From: contrary to. 

28. Come tardy off: feebly done. 

30. Censure. See note on I, iii, 69. 

30. In your allowance: as you must acknowledge. 

34. Not to speak it profanely. " It " refers to what fol- 
lows, and " profanely " has reference to the idea that somebody 
else than God had made such players. 

42 ff. It was a practice of Elizabethan clowns to extemporize 
jests, often at inopportune moments of the play. 

66. Pregnant: "because untold thrift is born from a cun- 
ning use of the knee" (Furness). "Candied tongue" in the 
preceding line stands, of course, for the flatterer himself. 

68. My dear soul. See note on I, ii, 182. 

74. Blood and judgment: impulse and reason. For hlood 
as here used see note on I, iii, 6. 

68-79. This very noble characterization of Horatio should 
be contrasted with Hamlet's analysis of less balanced natures 
in I, iv, 13-38. Observe throughout the play the manner in 
which Horatio's character is made to serve as a foil for Hamlet's. 

82. Which I have told thee. Is this occurrence in the 
play? 

84. The very comment of thy soul: with the concen- 
trated attention of all your faculties. 

86. In one speech. The reference is probably to the 



Scene IL] Notes and Comment 213 

"dozen or sixteen lines" (m = in connection with). It may, 
however, possibly mean some incriminating exclamation ex- 
torted from the King, as in line 280. 

87. A damned ghost. The alternative of I, iv, 40-42 (qf. 
" goblin damned " there) is still in Hamlet's mind. Cf. also 
II, ii, 627-32. 

92. In censure of his seeming: in reaching a conclusion 
from his appearance. 

95. Idle: probably here in the sense of " mad " — i. e., " I must 
resume my 'antic disposition'" (Herford). Or it may simply 
mean: "I must seem to have nothing to do with the play." 

98. The chameleon's dish: air. The reference is to a pop- 
ular belief of the time. Cf. Tivo Gentlemen of Verona, II, i, 
179: "though the chameleon Love can feed on the air." 

loi. I have nothing with: I make nothing of. 

102. Are not mine: mean nothing to me. 

109. I' the Capitol. A widespread error as to the place 
of Cassar's assassination. Shakespeare follows it in Julius 
Ccesar. 

112. Stay upon your patience: await your permission. 

132. Your only jig-maker: only your jig-maker. See note 
on II, ii, 523. 

138. A suit of sables. The reference is to the richest and 
most costly garb, as opposed to the wearing of mourning. If 
his father has been dead so long, Hamlet will put off mourning. 

145. The hobby-horse is forgot. The hobby-horse was 
one of the figures in the May-games and morris-dances, which 
were rapidly going out of use, largely as a result of Puritan 
intervention. The line (probably from some popular song) is 
quoted again in Love's Labour's Lost, III, i, 30. 

[The dumb-show]. A device of the older stage, rather 
than one which was common in Shakespeare's day. Its use 
here is puzzling. Its purpose seems to be to give to the audience 
the plot of the play, so that their attention may be freed to 
observe the King, while the play proper goes on. But the King 
must be supposed to see the dumb-show too, so that the trap 
is sprung before the play itself begins. On the modern stage 
the King is often represented as talking aside to the Queen, 
while the dumb-show is going on, and so failing to notice it. 
But this is quite without warrant. It seems better to suppose 



214 Notes and Comment [Act in. 

that the King does see it, and that he has strength of will enough 
to carry him through it without flinching. It is the repetition 
of it that is more than he can stand. Cf. the fainting of Lady- 
Macbeth, when the story of the murder is retold. 

147. Miching mallecho: lurking mischief. Mic// = skulk, 
sneak. 

162. The posy of a ring: the inscription engraved in a 
ring, hence necessarily brief. Cf. Merchant of Venice, V, i, 
147-50: "a hoop of gold, a petty ring . . . whose posy was 

. . . ' Love me, and leave me not.' " 

163. 'Tis brief. Where is the emphasis? 

165 £F. The "play within the play" is set off from the body 
of the drama by the fact that it is in rimed couplets — just as 
the first player's speech in II, ii, is set off by its markedly epic 
quality. The somewhat labored and occasionally even stilted 
style, too, of the Murder of Gonzago is different from that of 
the rest of the play, as if Shakespeare had intentionally used 
this means to throw the passage into strong relief. The attempt 
to determine which are the " dozen or sixteen lines " that 
Hamlet was to insert is probably futile, and the long discussion 
of the various attempts to identify them (the mere summary 
of which occupies over four pages of fine print in the Variorum) 
is really, as Dr. Furness remarks, " a tribute to Shakespeare's 
consummate art." One may be certain that " Shakespeare did 
not first write the Murder of Gonzago, and then insert in it 
certain lines, as though written by Hamlet." He meant to 
produce the illusion that Hamlet did write and insert such lines 
— and he succeeded in producing it. And it is a harmless 
amusement to attempt to pick the lines out. 

165. Phoebus' cart: Apollo's chariot — i. e., the sun. 

166. Neptune's salt wash: the sea. 

166. Tellus' orbed ground: the earth. Tellus was the 
goddess who personified the earth. 

175. I distrust you: I am solicitous about you. 

177. Holds quantity: keeps proportion. "Fear and love" 
are taken together as the subject. 

178. In neither aught, or in extremity. That is, there 
is either no fear (and hence no love), or both are extreme. The 
emendation "in either naught" has been suggested, but the 
general sense is clear. 



Scene II.] Notes and Comment 215 

184. My operant powers their functions leave to do: 
my active powers cease to perform their functions. 

187. O, confound the rest! Let the rest be as if struck 
dumb. Confound is not to be given here its trivial modern 
sense. 

193. Respects of thrift: considerations of profit. Instances 
(in line 192) = motives. 

198. Purpose is but the slave to memory: we keep our 
purpose only so long as we remember it. 

201. Fall. A false construction, probably due to " fruit," 
which has suggested the plural. Somewhat similarly destroy, 
in line 207, is attracted to the number of enactures. 

202-03. Necessary: inevitable. What to ourselves is 
debt refers to our resolves, the keeping of which we owe 
ourselves. 

207. Enactures: the carrying out into action of either grief 
or joy. 

219. Seasons him: ripens him as, turns him into. 

229. An anchor's cheer: an anchorite's fare. Scope = 
range. The sense is: "May I know no luxury or liberty if I 
do so." 

230. Each opposite, that blanks the face of joy. Op- 
posite = adversary, here used abstractly of " all that is at 
enmity with joy." Blanks = blanches, makes pale. 

247. Tropically: figuratively. The First Quarto has trap- 
ically — doubtless for the pun. 

255. As good as a chorus. Shakespeare's audience was 
familiar with many plays — especially those which were In- 
fluenced by Seneca — in which the chorus Interpreted the action. 
Among Shakespeare's own, see Romeo and Juliet, Henry V, 
Winter's Tale. 

263. Pox: an Imprecation, equivalent to "the pox take you! " 

264-65. The croaking raven doth bellow for revenge. 
Hamlet Is parodying two lines of a well-known old play. The 
True Tragedie of Richard the Third: 

" The screeking raven sits croaking for revenge, 
Whole herds of beasts comes bellowing for revenge." 

267. The time conspiring, and no spectator but the time. 

269. Hecate's ban. Hecate, In the Middle Ages, was re- 
garded as the goddess of witchcraft (cf. Macbeth). In classical 



2i6 Notes and Comment [ActIII. 

mythology the same goddess was Luna in Heaven, Diana on 
earth, and Hecate (or Proserpine) in hell. 

273-74. The story is extant, etc. Shakespeare is merely 
heightening the impression of verisimilitude, and search for the 
story is probably as useless as that for the " dozen or sixteen 
lines." 

282. See the idea of this line elaborated in As You Like It, 
II, i, 33-40. 

286. This: this playwriting of mine. The rest of the 
speech is an exaggerated description of an actor's costume. 
There are many contemporary allusions to the wearing of 
feathers on the stage ; Provincial roses were probably rosettes 
of ribbon, shaped like the roses either of Provins or Provence; 
razed shoes is a reference to the fashion of wearing shoes 
extravagantly slashed in patterns. All the allusions are to well- 
known vogues of the day, and would be perfectly intelligible 
to the audience. To turn Turk was to change completely; 
cf. Much Ado, III, iv, 57: "An you be not turned Turk, there's 
no more sailing, by the star." A fellowship in a cry of players 
was a share in a theatrical company — cry being humorously 
transferred from a pack of hounds. Throughout this part of 
the scene Hamlet's pent-up feelings are finding relief (as they 
did after the appearance of the Ghost in I, v) in almost 
hysterical abandon. 

292. O Damon dear. Damon and Pythias (look up their 
story) were proverbial for their friendship. Hamlet is either 
quoting from some lost ballad, or making up the lines as he 
goes. 

295. Pajock: a word found only here. Probably a dialect 
form for " peacock " ; possibly another spelling of patchock, a 
clown or ragamuffin. The riming word which Hamlet does not 
use is obvious. 

312. Distempered. See note on II, ii, 55. 

318. Purgation. Hamlet is playing on the two senses — 
purging the body, and clearing from the imputation of guilt. 

339. Admiration: wonder. Cf. I, ii, 192. 

349. These pickers and stealers: my hands. The church 
catechism has the phrase: "to keep my hands from picking and 
stealing." Cf. // Henry VI, I, iii, 193: "by these ten bones." 

354. Sir, I lack advancement. Hamlet is giving Rosen- 



Scene III.] Notes and Comment 217 

crantz the answer he expects, rather than the real one. Cf. II, 
ii, 258-59. 

358-59. " While the grass grows the horse starves " is the 
proverb in full. 

360. To withdraw with you: probably, to speak in private 
with you. 

361-62. The figure is from hunting. To recover the wind 
of an animal was to get to the windward of it, so as to drive 
it into the snare. 

363-64. Since Hamlet did not understand this, we are per- 
haps absolved from the attempt. Guildenstern seems to mean 
that his love is unmannerly because his sense of duty is strong 
— but his expression is anything but lucid. 

386. 'Sblood. See note on II, ii, 384. 

388. Fret. The fret, in certain musical instruments, is the 
device to regulate the fingering. Hamlet is playing on the two 
senses of the word. 

392. Presently. See note on II, ii, 170, and cf. lines 53, 400, 
402. 

401. To the top of my bent: as far as I could wish, to 
the utmost degree. See note on II, ii, 30. Fool me := treat me 
like a fool. 

412. Nero: the Roman emperor, who murdered his mother. 
Cf. King John, V, ii, 152-53: "You bloody Neroes, ripping up 
the womb Of your dear mother England." 

417. Give them seals: confirm by action. 



Act III. Scene III. 

In* this scene Hamlet has reached the point at which he has 
supposedly been aiming. He has the evidence which he has 
sought of the King's guilt; he has the King himself completely 
in his power. He deliberately lets the opportunity slip, and 
spares the King. But the King — although Hamlet does not 
know it — has already assumed the offensive, and in this scene 
(the only one in which the two protagonists are alone together) 
the control of the situation passes from Hamlet's hands into 
those of his opponent. 



2i8 Notes and Comment [Act HI. 

I. I like him not: not an expression of personal aversion, 
but rather: I don't like the turn things have taken. 

5. The terms of our estate: the conditions on which our 
kingship rests. 

II. The single and peculiar life: the private individual. 
Observe in these two speeches that Rosencrantz and Guilden- 
stern are antiphonal again. 

15. The cease of majesty: the death of the King. Dies 
is used as if Rosencrantz had said "majesty ceasing." 

16. A gulf: a whirlpool. Cf. Henry V, II, iv, 10: "as 
waters to the sucking of a gulf." 

24. Arm you: provide yourselves, get ready. Has the King 
paid much attention to the courtiers' fine phrases? 

25. This fear: this object of fear. 

29. Tax him home: rate him roundly. 

30. And wisely was it said. Who said it? See III, i, 
188 ff., and cf. note on II, i, 3. 

33. Of vantage: from a point of vantage. 

37. The primal eldest curse: the curse of Cain. 

46. To wash it white as snow. Probably a reminiscence 
of Psalm li, 7: "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." 
Cf. also Macbeth, V, i, 31 if., and II, ii, 60-61. 

49-50. Cf. the Lord's Prayer: "Lead us not into temptation, 
but deliver us from evil." Forestalled =: prevented. 

56. The offence: the benefits accruing from the offence. In 
what senses is the word used in lines 36, 47, 58? 

61. Lies: is sustainable — i. e., is not shoved by, bought out, 
or shuffled. 

64. What rests? What remains? 

68. Limed: caught, as a bird in bird-lime. Engaged =: 
entangled, hampered. 

69. Assay: probably, trial; possibly, onset. 

36-72. This soliloquy of the King's is a marvelous piece 
of psychological analysis, and its truth to certain inexorable facts 
makes it well worth careful study. What light does it throw 
on the character of the King? 

73-75. Are the three noiv's in these lines quite the same? 
Are the two so's? 

75. That would be scann'd: that demands scrutiny. And 
for Hamlet, that means the end of action. 



Scene IV.] Notes and Comment 219 

78. 'What fills out the line? 

80-82. Compare these lines with I, v, 76-79. 

80. Full of bread. Look up Ezekiel, xvi, 49, 

81. With all his crimes broad blown. Cf. I, v, 76: "cut 
off even in the blossoms of my sin." Bloivn is used as in III, 
i, 167. Flush =: lusty, full of vigor. 

83. In our circumstance and course of thought: as we 
(opposed to hea'ven) think. Circumstance seems to suggest the 
ranging abroad, course, the more direct movement, of thought. 

85. Purging. See note on III, ii, 318. 

96. This physic: this delay in execution. Make clear to 
yourself just what the reason is that now leads Hamlet to delay. 
Is it so much a reason as an excuse? 



Act III. Scene IV. 

In this scene Hamlet, being caught without a chance to think, 
acts. But by a stroke of tragic irony he kills Polonius, supposing 
him to be the King. And in killing Polonius he sets in motion 
the forces that are to lead to his own doom. The interview 
with his mother gives him an opportunity again to unpack his 
heart with words, and in the midst of it — at the beginning of 
the falling, as at the beginning of the rising action — the Ghost 
appears again. And the scene ends with Hamlet's determina- 
tion to act — only this time it is defenswe action, made necessary 
by the King's initiative, that he is forced to undertake. 

I. Lay home. Cf. Ill, iii, 29. 

4. Much heat: the King's anger. Sconce is Hanmer's emen- 
dation (perhaps unnecessary) for silence of the Quartos and 
Folios. 

6. Fear me not. Cf. note on I, iii, 51. 

26. Is it the king? That Hamlet thought it nvas the King 
is clear from line 33. Why does he no longer feel the scruple 
of the preceding scene? 

29, 30. As kill a king. Does Hamlet think that his mother 
was privy to his father's murder ? Is there any evidence that 
she was? 

38. Proof and bulwark: like tested armor and a rampart. 
Sense = feeling. 



220 Notes and Comment [Act III. 

44. Sets a blister there. Harlots were branded in the fore- 
head. Cf. Comedy of Errors, II, ii, 138. 

46. Contraction: the marriage contract (see "marriage- 
vows " above). 

48. Glow: burn with shame. 

49. The earth, as the center of the universe. 

50. The doom: the last judgment. Cf. "the great doom's 
image" {Macbeth, II, iii, 83); "the crack of doom" {ibid., 
IV, i, 117). 

52. In the index: in the prologue or prelude. Index is here 
the table of contents prefixed to a book ; cf . Othello, II, i, 263 : 
" an index and obscure prologue to the history " ; and especially 
Troilus and Cressida, I, iii, 343-46. 

53. Stage tradition has varied greatly in the translation of 
this line into stage business. Some of the devices have been: 
two miniatures produced by Hamlet; two full-length portraits 
on the wall ; a miniature of his father drawn from Hamlet's 
bosom, and either a miniature of Claudius worn by the Queen, 
or a full-length picture of him on the wall. Many later actors 
represent both pictures as imagined by Hamlet. The justification 
of the miniatures is found, of course, in the " pictures in little " 
of II, ii, 383. 

54. Counterfeit presentment: portrayed representation. 
Counterfeit did not necessarily have its modern connotation. 
Cf. Merchant of Venice, III, ii, 116: "Fair Portia's counterfeit." 

56. Hyperion's curls. See note on I, ii, 140. 

58. Station: attitude in standing. Cf. Antony and Cleo- 
patra, III, iii, 22: "her motion and her station are as one." 
Mercury was the messenger of the gods. Note the vividness 
of Hamlet's description. 

64-65. The reference is to the thin and blasted ears that 
devoured the full ears in Pharaoh's dream. See Genesis, xli, 

5-7- 

69. Hey-day: a state of exaltation or excitement. Notice 
again the contrast (in this line and the next) between "blood" 
and "judgment," and cf. note on III, ii, 74. 

71. Sense: feeling, sensation. In line 74 its meaning is 
rather reason, common sense; in line 72 there is a mingling of 
both. Motion (line 72) = impulse, desire. 

73. Apoplex'd: paralyzed. Hamlet means that his mother's 



Scene IV.] Notes and Comment 221 

faculties must be completely benumbed or stupefied, for even 
madness would have left her some power of choice. The so of 
line 74 is understood before err in the preceding line. 

80. Sense. The reference here is to one of the " five senses." 

91. Leave their tinct: part with their hue. 

98. A vice of kings. The Vice was the buffoon in the old 
morality plays. Cf. Twelfth Night, IV, ii, 134-39. The phrase 
here means " a buifoon of a king." 

99-101. The King is not even a robber — merely a sneak-thief. 

102. A king of shreds and patches: a king in motley. 
The phrase carries out the idea of " a vice of kings:" 

[Enter Ghost]. What marked difference between this and 
the preceding appearances of the Ghost is brought out by the 
ensuing dialogue.-* What parallel is there in Macbeth? 

107. Lapsed in time and passion: having allowed time 
to slip by and feeling to grow dull. Important (line 108) := 
urgent. 

no. Do not forget. What was Hamlet's "word"? Cf. I, 
V, 91-112. 

112. Amazement: utter bewilderment. Cf. Ill, Ii, 339. 

114. Conceit: mental Impression, imagination. Cf. II, ii, 

579, 583. 

121. Excrements: that which grows out of the body; here, 
hairs (used also of nails, feathers). Bedded carries out the 
Idea of sleeping. For an end cf. note on I, v, 19. With the 
description in lines 119-22 cf. that in I, v, 17-20. 

123. Distemper. See note on II, II, 55, and cf. Ill, ii, 351. 

128-29. Convert my stern effects: transform the stern 
deeds I have to do. 

135. In his habit as he lived. Since habit could scarcely 
apply to armor. It Is probable that the Ghost appears this time 
in ordinary garb. In the First Quarto the stage direction before 
line 102 reads: Enter the Ghost in his night goivne- — i. e., in his 
dressing gown. 

143. I will repeat In the same words what I have said; 
madness would keep leaping aside in the attempt. 

152. Forgive me this my virtue: forgive this virtue of 
mine. Hamlet Is still addressing his mother — not, as is some- 
times said, apostrophizing his virtue. Lines 154-55 are an 
elaboration of the idea In line 152. Curb = bow, bend the knee. 



22 2 Notes and Comment [Act III. 

i6i ff. That monster, custom, who devours all sensibility 
(i. e., sensitiveness to moral distinctions), devil though he be 
with reference to bad habits, is yet an angel in this, that, etc. 
That is, custom makes habits automatic (a very modern way 
of saying "all sense doth eat"), but the same power of custom 
that fixes evil habits may fix good ones too. 

169. And either . . . the devil. The verb has dropped 
out in the early texts. The master of the Fourth Quarto is 
perhaps as good a word as any of those that have been suggested. 

171-72. When the Queen is penitent enough to pray for bless- 
ing, she will then be fit to grant to Hamlet the blessing which 
he cannot now ask. 

183. Mouse: a pet name. Cf. Love's Labour's Lost, V, ii, 
19: "What's your dark meaning, mouse?"; Tivelfth Night, I, 
V, 69: "Good my mouse of virtue, answer me." 

188 ff. Hamlet cannot repress his bitter irony. 

190. Paddock . . . gib: toad . . . tom-cat. The three 
animals named were the familiars of witches, which gives a 
sinister turn to Hamlet's taunt. 

194. The famous ape. The allusion is to a story that is 
lost. Conclusions = experiments. 

197. If words be made of breath. Cf. HI, I, 98. 

200. I must to England. How had Hamlet learned this? 
Cf. in, i, 177; III, iii, 4, for the other references to the plan. 

206. To have the enginer Hoist with his own petar: 
to have the one who lays the mine blown up with his own bomb. 

210. Two crafts. There is probably a play on the two 
meanings of the word — ship, and cunning. 

206-10. Has Hamlet a definite plan laid, or is he merely 
counting on his own skill in a contest of wits? 

211. This man: Polonius. Set me packing: set me lug- 
ging him away; probably with the added idea: send me off 
in a hurry (i. e., cause my flight). 

212. Guts. This word was less offensive in Shakespeare's 
time than now. 

213-16. Is there any indication that Hamlet thinks of Po- 
lonius as Ophelia's father? 



Scene L] Notes and Comment 223 



Act IV. Scene I. 

The first three scenes of Act IV immediately follow the last 
scene of Act III, and form with it a single group. There seems 
to be no good reason why the division between the two acts 
should come just where it does, and it has been frequently sug- 
gested that Act IV should really begin with what is now its 
fourth scene — an arrangement which has much to be said in 
its favor (see also introductory note to Scene IV). At all 
events, the first three scenes still have to do directly with the 
death of Polonius, and lead up to the full disclosure (at the 
end of Scene III) of the King's plan. 

9. Hearing something stir. Why does Gertrude thus 
garble her account? 

II. Brainish: a rare word, variously defined as brainsick; 
headstrong, passionate ; imaginary, unfounded on fact. 

16. Hamlet, of course, has played directly into the King's 
hands. 

19-23. If Gertrude had known that Claudius had murdered 
her husband, is it likely that he would have found it necessary 
to dissemble as he does here? 

25. Ore: a precious metal (used chiefly of gold). Mineral 
(line 26) is a mine. 

27. He weeps for what is done. Is Gertrude telling the 
truth? What motive underlies her statement? 

31. All our majesty: all the weight and authority of our 
office. 

40. Some words have dropped out at the end of the line. 
Capell, following a suggestion of Theobald, read: "So, haply, 
slander," and this reading has been adopted by many modern 
editors. Lines 41-44 (''whose . . . air") are not in the Folios. 

42. Blank: the white spot in the center of a target, the 
bull's-eye. 

44. Woundless: invulnerable. Cf. "the viewless winds" 
(Measure for Measure, III, i, 124) ; " the sightless couriers of 
the air" {Macbeth, I, vii, 23). 



224 Notes and Comment [ActIV. 



Act IV. Scene II. 

12. To be demanded of: to be questioned by. 

19. Like an ape. The reading of the Folio. The First 
Quarto (in which the speech immediately follows the present 
III, ii, 389) has "as an ape doth nuts," which makes the mean- 
ing of the Folio reading clear. The Second Quarto has " like 
an apple," 

29-32. Hamlet is deliberately talking nonsense. For the 
interpretations offered by those who think it sense, see the 
Variorum. 

32-33. Hide fox, and all after. Probably a phrase from 
a children's game, like hide-and-seek. If so, Polonius is the 
fox. 

Act IV. Scene III. 

4. This is unprejudiced testimony to a fact of great im- 
portance. What qualities has Hamlet shown in the play that 
would win him the affection of the people? Distracted := 
crazy. 

5. Whose liking is determined by appearances, instead of 
being a matter of judgment. 

6. The offender's scourge: the punishment the offender 
receives. 

9. Deliberate pause: the result of deliberate consideration. 
For pause, cf. Ill, iii, 42. 

21. Convocation of politic worms. Hamlet's phraseology 
is punctiliously chosen to fit the body of a statesman. The use 
of the words "convocation," "politic," "worms," "diet" (per- 
haps also "emperor") makes it highly probable that Shake- 
speare had the Diet of Worms in mind. For the use of " your " 
(lines 22-25) see note on I, v, 167. Hamlet is still feigning 
madness, but it is difficult to doubt that he has also a certain 
intellectual pleasure in what he is saying. 

33. Go a progress. Progress was the regular word for a 
royal journey of state. Cf. // Henry VI, I, iv, 76: "the king is 
now in progress towards Saint Albans." 

43. Tender: regard, hold dear. Cf. I, iii, 107. 



Scene IV.] Notes and Comment 225 

45. Fiery quickness. Cf. " hot haste." 

46. The wind at help. Cf. I, iii, 2-3. 

47. Tend: wait. Cf. I, iii, 83. 
56. At foot: at his heels. 

61. Thereof may give thee sense: may make thee cog- 
nizant of it. 

63. Free awe. Opposed to awe that is the result of cona- 
pulsion. 

64. Set: value, esteem. Cf. I, iv, 65. 

66. Congruing: agreeing. This is the reading of the 
Quartos. The Folios have conjuring. Cf. Hamlet's description 
of the letter in V, ii, 38. 



Act IV. Scene IV. 

Scene IV is transitional between the death of Polonius and the 
working out of its results in the plot against Hamlet's life, in 
the madness and death of Ophelia, and in the return of Laertes 
to avenge his father's murder. From this point on it is Hamlet's 
life rather than the King's that is under direct and constant 
menace. But just as the sight of the player enacting Hecuba 
stirred Hamlet to fresh resolution when aggressive action was 
still possible, so now, after command of the situation has slipped 
through his hands, the sight of the army of Fortinbras kindles 
a new resolve to act. 

Sufficient time must have elapsed between Scenes III and IV 
for Claudius's permission to Fortinbras to pass through Danish 
territory (see line 2, and cf. II, ii, 76-82) to reach him. And 
the request for this license was presented to Claudius only the 
day before the death of Polonius (see introductory note to Act 
II, Scene I). Some days, at least, must accordingly have in- 
tervened. This is (strictly speaking) inconsistent with the fact 
that Hamlet leaves for England the very night of Polonius's 
murder (IV, i, 29-30; IV, iii, 46-48, 55-57), and there is nothing 
to indicate that the port was distant from Elsinore (cf. I, iii, 
i> 55"57)- But it must be remembered that Shakespeare is 
writing a drama (with the attendant necessity of producing 
certain illusions as to time in the mind of his audience), not 



226 Notes and Comment [Act IV. 

presenting a statement of facts. See, for a somewhat similar 
instance, the note on I, i, 39. 

6. In his eye: in his presence, face to face. 

8. Softly: slowly, leisurely. Cf. Julius Ccesar, V, i, 16: 
" lead your battle softly on." 

9. Good sir. Cf. lines 11, 13, 15, 29, and observe again 
Hamlet's fine courtesy in dealing with his inferiors in rank. 
Lines 9-66 are omitted in the Folio, probably for the same reason 
that dictates the omission of the entire scene on the modern 
stage — namely, the necessity for a shorter acting version. For 
the light which it throws on Hamlet's character, however, as 
well as for its noble poetry, the scene is of the utmost im- 
portance. 

20. To pay a rent of five ducats, only five, I would not 
take a lease of it. Farm (= lease) is contrasted with sold 
in fee (i. e., fee simple, absolute possession) in line 22. Ranker 
=z greater, higher. 

26. Will not debate: will not be sufficient to fight out. 

34. Market of his time: either, "that for which he sells 
his time" (Johnson) ; or, "the business in which he employs his 
time" (Clarendon Press). 

36. Discourse: range of thought. Cf. I, ii, 150. 

40. Bestial oblivion: such oblivion as characterizes the 
beasts that sleep and feed (cf. line 35). 

40-41. Scruple Of: scruple that consists in. Event = out- 
come (as also in line 50). Cf. especially, for the idea ex- 
pressed, III, i, 84-85. 

50. Makes mouths at: mocks at. Cf. II, ii, 381-82. 

53-56. To stir without great matter for dispute {argument) 
is not rightly to be great; but it is rightly to be great to find 
quarrel, etc. For argument in this sense cf. Troilus and Cres- 
sida, I, i, 95-96: "I cannot fight upon this argument; It is too 
starv'd a subject for my sword." How does Hamlet's statement 
differ from that of Polonius in I, iii, 65-67? 

58. My reason and my blood. Cf. notes on III, ii, 74, 
and III, iv, 69-70. 

61. Trick of fame: trifle that promises fame. 

62. Plot: plot of ground. 

65-66. Since Hamlet is on his way to England, just what 
does he mean? 



Scene v.] Notes and Comment 227 



Act IV. Scene V. 

Scene V reverts to Ophelia and Laertes (compare Act I, 
Scene III, for contrast) — to Ophelia mad in reality, as Hamlet 
is mad in seeming; to Laertes rushing headlong to the same 
revenge (for "a father kill'd") with which Hamlet has been 
dallying. And it looks directly back to the murder of Polonius 
— itself the result of Hamlet's fatal delay, — and forward to the 
catastrophe. For the gentle and innocent Ophelia is caught in 
the net which Hamlet's failure to act at the crucial moment has 
woven, and her madness becomes a new and potent factor in 
Laertes's already fixed determination to be revenged. That 
determination is at first directed against the King. But before 
the scene is ended, its transfer from the King — through " the 
witchcraft of his wit " — to Hamlet is foreshadowed. 

6. Spurns enviously: kicks spitefully. Cf. Antony and Cle- 
opatra, III, V, 17: " [He] spurns the rush that lies before him." 
For envious in the sense of " malicious," cf. IV, vii, 174. In 
her madness Ophelia wreaks pitiful vengeance on whatever 
trifling objects come in her way. 

6-13. Observe, as you read on in the scene, how aptly the 
Gentleman has characterized Ophelia's broken speeches. 

9. To collection: to an attempt to gather her meaning. 
Aim = guess, conjecture. 

15. Ill-breeding minds: minds that hatch mischief. 

19. Artless jealousy: suspicion that knows no art to con- 
ceal itself. Guilt is so full of such suspicion, that it betrays 
itself by its very fear that Itivill betray itself. The Queen's 
speech reveals to us, for the first time in the play, something 
of her inner thoughts. 

25. Cockle-hat: a hat with a scallop-shell in it — one of the 
insignia of a pilgrim. A pilgrim's garb was a conventional 
disguise for a lover; Romeo, for example, went so disguised 
to the Capulets' ball (cf. especially Romeo and Juliet, I, v, 95 ff.). 

26. Shoon: an archaic plural of shoe. Ophelia is singing 
snatches of old ballads that deal with the two themes uppermost 
in her distracted mind — love and death. 

38. Both Quartos and Folios read: "did not go." If this 
is the true reading — and it is difficult not to take it so— 



228 Notes and Comment [ActIV. 

Ophelia probably has dimly in mind her father's " obscure 
funeral" (line 213; cf. line 84), and so inserts the "not." 

41. God 'ild you: God yield you — i. e., I thank you. 

41. They say, etc. The reference is to an old legend of 
a baker's daughter who reproved her mother for putting too 
large a piece of dough in the oven to bake a loaf for Christ, 
and who was transformed into an owl. Ophelia's next words 
perhaps indicate a pathetic half-consciousness of some change 
that she has undergone. 

45. Conceit upon: fancies about. 

70. My brother shall know of it. Observe the hint here 
given of Laertes's return, as another example of Shakespeare's 
craftsmanship. 

84. In hugger-mugger: secretly, clandestinely — with the 
added idea of haste. 

89. Broods over the strange thing that has happened, keeps 
his thoughts to himself. 

94. In ear and ear: either, in each other's ears; or, in 
everybody's ears. 

95. A murdering-piece : a cannon loaded with case-shot, 
that scatter, when fired. 

96. Superfluous death: more deaths than one. 

97. Switzers: Swiss guards — employed by the King of 
France in Shakespeare's day, and still by the Pope in ours. 

99. Overpeering of his list: rising above its boundaries. 

105. The line refers to " antiquity " and " custom." 

no. Counter. "To run counter" is to follow the trail in 
the wrong direction. Cf. the preceding line. 

118-20. Cf. Ill, iv, 42-44. 

122, 126. Let him go, Gertrude. Whatever else Claudius 
may be, this scene shows that he is no coward. And Gertrude's 
devotion to him is here unmistakable. 

124. Peep: look — used with a touch of contempt. Treason 
can only get a peep at what it wants; it cannot act out its will. 

133-36. One function of Laertes in the play is to stand in 
sharpest contrast to Hamlet. Each has a father's death to 
avenge; and Laertes's swift recourse to action throws into 
the strongest possible relief Hamlet's procrastination. With 
Laertes's curt dismissal of this world and the next in line 134 
compare especially Hamlet's broodings in III, i, 76-82. 



Scene v.] Notes and Comment 229 

142. Swoopstake: indiscriminately. The figure is from a 
game of cards, where the winner draws the stakes of both sides. 

146-47. The pelican was fabled to pierce its breast with its 
bill, and feed its young with its blood. 

[Re-enter Ophelia]. Why does Shakespeare bring Ophelia 
back at this point? Cf, lines 168-69. 

161-63. The general idea of these lines is clear, but the 
expression is somewhat obscure. Fine seems to mean " delicate, 
sensitive " ; instance is " proof, token," The " precious instance " 
is Ophelia's sanity, which has followed Polonius ("the thing it 
loves") to his grave. 

172. The wheel. This reference is also obscure, but it is 
probable that Ophelia imagines that she is singing at the 
spinning-wheel. Compare the reference to the " old and plain " 
song that " the spinsters [i. e., spinners] and the knitters in the 
sun . . . Do use to chant" (Tivelfth Night, II, iv, 43-47). 

172. It is the false steward^ etc. This allusion has never 
been identified. 

174. This nothing's more than matter: these unintelli- 
gible words move more than if they had meaning. 

175-86. Flowers have been regarded from time immemorial 
as having a symbolic language, and Ophelia is using it here, 
as Perdita uses it in Winter's Tale, IV, iv, 73 ff. 

I75-77' Rosemary . . . pansies. Rosemary was supposed 
to strengthen the memory; the reference to pansies is a play 
on the word (from French pensee, thought). Ophelia probably 
gives these to Laertes — possibly taking him for Hamlet. If 
so, the " pray, love, remember " is a pathetic counterpart of 
the injunction of the Ghost. 

178. Document: lesson, instruction. 

180. Fennel . . . columbine: symbolic of flattery and un- 
chastity, and probably given to the King. 

181. There's rue for you: i. e., for the Queen. For th? 
significance of rue, cf. Richard II, III, iv, 105-06: "I'll set a 
bank of rue, sour herb o' grace: Rue, even for ruth, here shortly 
shall be seen." 

182. We may call it, etc. That is, its religious name is 
the proper one for Sundays. 

183. With a difference. A difference, in heraldry, was 
some mark by which the arms of one branch of a family were 



230 Notes and Comment [ActIV. 

distinguished from those of another. What Ophelia means is 
that the Queen will wear hers for repentance, Ophelia hers for 
regret. 

184. A daisy . . . violets. The daisy often (not always) 
symbolized dissembling; violets stood for faithfulness. It is not 
clear to whom those flowers are given — the daisy possibly to 
the Queen, the violets perhaps to Horatio. 

188. Thought: here in its sense of anxious thought, melan- 
choly. 

199. And of all Christian souls: a common ending of epi- 
taphs. 



Act IV. Scene VI. 

This scene serves to introduce the element of suspense, just 
as the King seems to have gained his point. His plan has mis- 
carried; Hamlet is back on Danish soil; the opportunity that 
he seemed to have lost is in his hands again. And the ques- 
tion is. How will he use it? 

20. Thieves of mercy: merciful thieves. See note on I, 
ii, 4. 

21. They knew what they did: they knew what they were 
about. That is (probably), they had promise of reward. The 
phrase is sometimes taken to mean that the encounter with the 
pirates was prearranged by Hamlet, and that it was to this that 
he had referred in III, iv, 205-10. But this seems very unlikely. 
If Hamlet had any definite plan in his mind in the lines referred 
to (instead of merely the confidence that his wits would serve 
him at the critical moment), it was probably that of the exchange 
of the letters (see V, ii, 12-55). The fight with the pirates 
is rather to be thought of as a happy accident. Accident, to be 
sure, may not play too large a part in a tragedy, where the 
movement of events is chiefly determined by the inexorable work- 
ing out of what is latent in character. But accident plays a 
vital part in life, and the dramatist may legitimately use it 
as it seems to be used here. What part is played by accident, 
for instance, in Macbeth? 

26-27. Too light for the bore of the matter: the charge 
is too light, considering the caliber of the gun. That is, weighty 



Scene VII.] Notes and Comment 231 

as the words are, they are yet inadequate for the matter they 
have to express. 



Act IV. Scene VII. 

At the very moment when the King is about to disclose to 
Laertes the plan by which he thinks he has rid himself of 
Hamlet, word is brought that Hamlet has returned. Without 
a moment's hesitation Claudius seizes on the opportunity to 
turn Laertes to his purpose, and before Hamlet has a chance 
to act, a new and sinister plot is under way against him. And 
before the plot is fairly formed, Laertes's ardor for revenge is 
fanned to fierce flame by the account of Ophelia's death, and 
the act ends with a sense of crowding events moving swiftly 
to the catastrophe. 

I. Conscience: consciousness (that all this is so), knowl- 
edge. See note on III, i, 83. 

3-5. Can you make out what it is that the King has told 
Laertes? Notice Laertes's characterization of "these feats" in 
the next speech. 

13. Be it either which: whichever of these it be. 

15. See note on I, v, 17. 

ig-2i. Springs which have the property referred to here are 
known in many localities. Gyves = fetters, and the literal 
meaning gives perfectly good sense: the people will regard as 
ornaments the fetters I impose upon him. 

27. If praises may go back again: i. e., to what she w<«j. 

28. Stood on an eminence as challenger of all the age. 

33. You shortly shall hear more. V^hat the King ex- 
pects that Laertes shall hear is the news of Hamlet's death. 
What he does hear is the news of his escape. Observe the 
dramatic irony of the situation. 

34. I . . . we. In the first half of the line Claudius is 
speaking as a man ; in the second, as a king. 

37. This to the queen. We hear no more of this letter; 
why is it mentioned here? 

40. Who is Claudio? 

63. Checking at. A technical term from falconry. A hawk 
" checks," when it abandons its proper prey to fly after another. 



232 Notes and Comment [Act IV. 

68. Uncharge the practice: make no charge against the 
stratagem. Practice is here used in its frequent sinister sense. 

74. Your sum of parts . . . together: all your other 
qualities combined. Siege (line 77) = rank. 

82. Importing health and graveness. Either, health and 
grateness refer together to his sables and his nveeds (in which 
case health means either '' attention to health " or " prosperity") ; 
or, health refers back to light and careless li'ving, and grave- 
ness to his sables and his i.veeds. 

85. Can well: have great skill. Ca7t is frequently used 
absolutely in Elizabethan (and earlier) English, in the sense 
of knowing how, being able. Cf. German kbnnen. 

89. So far he topp'd my thought: so far he outdid what 
I could imagine. 

90. In forgery of: in imagining, contriving. 
94. Brooch: here, ornament in general. 

96. Confession. Lamond would reluctantly acknowledge the 
superiority of a fencer of another nation. 

97. A masterly report: a report describing Laertes as a 
master. 

107. Now, out of this. Why does the King pause here? 

113. Passages of proof: proved instances. 

117. Nothing remains constantly in the same state of excel- 
lence. Plurisy = plethora, excess. 

123-24. Sighs were supposed to draw blood from the heart. 
The sense of the lines is that the recognition of a duty gives 
but fallacious relief, when the will to perform it is gone. 
Shakespeare is giving — this time altogether incidentally — an- 
other keen analysis of Hamlet's own malady. 

127. To cut his throat i' the church. Laertes has no such 
scruples as stayed Hamlet's hand when the King waj praying, 
Observe the sharpness of the contrast. 

128. Sanctuarize: serve as sanctuary to protect from punish- 
ment. Murder refers to Hamlet's killing of Polonius. 

132. Put on those shall: instigate those who shall. 

136. This tribute to Hamlet's nobility of character serves 
to emphasize the King's baseness. Remiss (line 135) = care- 
less, indifferent. 

139. A pass of practice: a treacherous thrust For prac- 
tice, cf. line 68, and note. 



Scene!.] Notes and Comment 233 

146. Under the moon: i. e., collected by moonlight, in order 
to enhance their virtue. 

151. Fit us to our shape: "enable us to assume proper 
characters" (Johnson). 

152. If our intention should be disclosed through our unskil- 
ful acting. 

155. Blast in proof: miscarry when put to the test. 

157. Why the pause in this line? 

161. For the nonce: for the purpose. 

170. Crow-flowers: either the buttercup, or the Ragged 
Robin; long purples: a variety of orchid. 

I73-74* Ophelia chooses a willow, because it is the symbol 
of forsaken love. 

180-81. Indued Unto: suited to live in. 

189-90. When these ... be out: when my tears are all 
shed, the woman in me will be gone. 



Act V. Scene I. 

This scene is almost of the nature of an interlude. The 
swift movement of the action is suspended, and the dialogue 
between the clowns, into which Hamlet's philosophizing merges, 
serves momentarily to break the tension. But the subtle and 
ineffective musings upon death are sharply interrupted by the 
intrusion of reality, and the scene ends with a clash between 
Hamlet and Laertes which foreshadows the catastrophe. 

2. Salvation. Shakespeare's clowns, like many persons not 
in Shakespeare, have the foible of using words which convey 
a different meaning from that intended. 

g. Se offendendo. The clown means se defendendo, in self- 
defence. 

II. An act hath three branches. Shakespeare Is putting 
into the clown's mouth a parody on legal phraseology. And 
it seems highly probable that he has an actual case in mind. 
See the abstract of the argument in the Variorum note on this 
line. 

13. Argal: the clown's attempt at Ergo, I. e., "therefore, 
consequently." 

24. Crowner's quest: coroner's inquest. 



234 Notes and Comment [Act v. 

29. There thou say'st. Cf. modern slang, " Now you're 
talking." 

32. Even Christian: fellow Christian. 

44. Confess thyself — . The first gravedigger was going on 
with the rest of the proverb, " and be hanged." 

59. Unyoke: that is: after such an effort, you may rest. 

68. Yaughan: probably the name of an ale-house. Various 
words of which it may be a corruption have been suggested. 

69 fF. The clown is singing a humorously garbled version 
of an actual song, attributed to Lord Vaux, and printed in 
Tottel's Miscellany. See the Variorum for the real text, which 
is worth looking up and comparing. The " O's " and " Ah's " 
merely represent the exertion of digging. 

75-76. A property of easiness: a characteristic that now 
is easy. 

85. Cain's jaw-bone, that: the jaw-bone of Cain, who. 
According to an old tradition Cain slew Abel with the jaw- 
bone of an ass, and the reference may be to that. Cain's own 
jaw-bone, however, may, of course, be meant. 

86. Politician: plotter, schemer. The word has usually a 
bad sense in Shakespeare. 

100. Loggats: a game in which little logs (loggats) of 
apple-wood are thrown at the jack, a wooden wheel placed on 
an ash-strewn floor. 

111-121. The legal terms which Hamlet uses scarcely need 
exact definition here. It is worth noting that, according to 
good authorities, they are used with a clear sense of their 
meaning. 

115. The fine of his fines. The first fine Is "end"; the 
second is a technical legal term. No two of the four fine's 
have the same meaning. 

119. A pair of indentures. "Indentures were agreements 
made out in duplicate, of which each party kept one. Both 
were written on the same sheet of paper, or parchment, which 
was cut in two in a crooked or indented line (whence the 
name), in order that the fitting of the two parts might prove 
the genuineness of both in case of dispute" {Clarendon Press). 

126. In that: i. e., in such parchments. 

131-33. Thine . . . you. Observe the use of pronouns 
throughout this dialogue between Hamlet and the clown. 



Scene I.] Notes and Comment 235 

149. By the card: by the chart; hence, with preci- 
sion. 

176-77. This statement, taken in connection with lines 155-62, 
gives Hamlet's age explicitly as thirty years. Many — perhaps 
most — commentators have felt that the Hamlet of the play is 
younger. For a full discussion of the question see the note on 
line 153 in the Variorum, and cf. Bradley, pp. 407-09. 

182. You. See note on H, i, 7. 

188. Your. See note on I, v, 167. 

189* 193* Whoreson: "a term of coarse familiarity . . . 
reproach or ludicrous dislike" (Schmidt). 

190-91. Three and twenty years. That is, Yorick died 
when Hamlet was seven years old — a statement which fits per- 
fectly with the implications of lines 176-77- 

206. My gorge rises at it. A reference to the heaving 
sensation of nausea. 

212. Chap-fallen. Hamlet is playing on the literal and 
figurative senses of the word — i. e., " with shrunken, hanging 
jaw," and "dejected, crest-fallen." 

218. Alexander: Alexander the Great. 

227-28. Observe Horatio's sane common sense, set once more 
as a foil over against Hamlet's subtle imaginings. In these 
imaginings there is no trace of madness; they show, rather, the 
workings of a keen and acute intellect which is seeking some 
outlet under conditions of abnormal strain. 

230. Modesty. See note on III, ii, 21. 

240. Aside: step aside. 

241. Who is this they follow? Observe the dramatic 
effectiveness of the way in which Hamlet learns of Ophelia's 
death, and note, too, how the highly wrought mood in which 
we have just seen him prepares us for the outburst that 
follows. 

242. Maimed: curtailed, imperfect. This, and the words 
of the priest which follow, refer to the fact that suicides were 
not granted the full burial rites of the church. 

244. It. See note on I, ii, 216. 

251. Compare the Second Clown's words in lines 26-28. 

262-63. Cf. Fitzgerald's Rubdiydt: 

And this reviving Herb whose tender Green 
Fledges the River-lip on which we lean — 



236 Notes and Comment [ActV. 

Ah, lean upon it lightly! for who knows 
From what once lovely Lip it springs unseen ! 
And cf. Tennyson's In Memoriam, xviii. 

276. Pelion. Pelion and Ossa were two famous mountains 
in Thessaly. According to Greek mythology, when the Titans 
tried to dethrone the gods, they piled Ossa (see line 306) on 
Pelion, in order to scale the sky. Olympus (line 277) was 
another mountain, between Thessaly and Macedonia, which 
was regarded as the home of the gods. 

279. The wandering stars: the planets (look up the 
etymology of planet). 

287. Contrast the implications of the King's and the Queen's 
outcries. 

290. Wag: move. The word had not in Shakespeare's day 
its present rather undignified associations. 

292-94. There is no reason to doubt the immediate sincerity 
of Hamlet's words. He had, we may believe, loved Ophelia, 
but the bitterness and suspicion awakened by his mother's 
sin, and his own intense preoccupation with the revelation 
of the Ghost seem to have dulled, if not quite deadened 
it. The powerful revulsion of feeling caused by the sud- 
den disclosure of Ophelia's tragic death brings back, with 
overwhelming force, the realization of his love — and of his 
loss. 

298-99. Woo't: wilt thou — a colloquial form. 

299. Eisel. The Folios have Esile; the First Quarto, 
fvessels; the Second, Esill, and only the " dram of eale " passage 
(I, iv, 36) has occasioned more discussion. The mass of in- 
terpretations may be reduced to two: (i) that the word is a 
misprint for the name of some river; or, (2) that it stands for 
the word in the present text, meaning vinegar. The latter is on 
the whole the more probable explanation; cf. Sonnet CXI, 9-10: 
" I will drink Potions of eisel 'gainst my strong infection," and 
note that eisel is used a number of times (see Oxford Dictionary) 
as one of the constituents of the bitter drink offered to Christ on 
the cross. To " drink up " did not necessarily mean to exhaust 
by drinking, but to quaff. For a summary of the numerous and 
interesting suggestions that have been made, see the Variorum 
note. It must be remembered that Hamlet is naming (and 
adding to) the extravagant feats demanded by convention of 



Scene II.] Notes and Comment 237 

mediaeval lovers to attest their love ; cf . his " Show me what 
thou'lt do," 

305. The burning zone: the sphere in which the sun moves. 
Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, IV, xv, 9-10: "O sun, Burn the great 
sphere thou mov'st in." 

307. This is mere madness. The Queen is mistaken. A 
wild outbreak of pent-up feeling it certainly is, but it shows 
no signs of mental aberration. Hamlet has lost for the moment 
his self-control (cf, V, ii, 75-79), under the shock of Ophelia's 
tragedy and of Laertes's unexpected and (to him) astounding 
attack (cf. line 247), and he utters ''wild and whirling words," 
as he did at the time of the Ghost's disclosure. Does he 
assume madness again in the play? 

310. Golden couplets. The young of the dove (which 
lays but two eggs) are covered with yellow down when hatched 
{disclosed: see note on III, i, 174). 

318. Present push: instant test. 

320. A sinister reference, understood only by Laertes, to the 
plot against Hamlet. 



Act V. Scene II. 

The last scene of the play is devoted to the execution — not 
of any plan of Hamlet's for revenge, but of the King's plot 
against Hamlet. But the return of Hamlet, regarding which 
we have been left in suspense, is first accounted for, and both 
in Hamlet's recital of his escape and in his dialogue with Osric 
(which throws a gleam of grim humor on the somber back- 
ground), we are made to see him restored to self-control. And 
it is by no preconceived plan, but by as sudden an impulse as 
that which caused Polonius's death, that at last he reaches his 
revenge — at the cost (through his delay) of the lives of Polonius, 
Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Laertes, the Queen, and 
himself. Only Horatio, of the major characters, remains, and 
it is on Horatio and Fortinbras — the man of balanced blood 
and judgment, and the man of action — that the curtain falls, 

I. This . . . the other. What this refers to, it is im- 
possible to say — perhaps to Ophelia's death. The other is of 
course Hamlet's own escape. 



238 Notes and Comment [Act v. 

6. The mutines in the bilboes: mutineers in shackles. 

6. Rashly. This modifies " up from my cabin . . . groped 
I," in lines 12-14; what comes between is parenthetical. And 
in the parenthesis Hamlet is again acutely interpreting his own 
case. For his deep plots have come to nothing; when he has 
acted, it has been on impulse. Cf. below, lines 30-3.1. 

13. Scarf 'd: hastily thrown about the shoulders, like a 
scarf. 

22. Such bugs and goblins in my life: such bugbears and 
mischiefs, if I am allowed to live. 

23. On the supervise: immediately upon perusal; at sight. 
33-34. You can verify Hamlet's statement by looking at any 

collection of facsimiles of the signatures of Elizabethan worthies. 
Statist = statesman. 

36. Yeoman's service. The English yeomen (small free- 
holders) composed the bulk of the English infantry in war, and 
were famed for their valor. 

42. Stand a comma 'tween their amities. An obscure 
and puzzling line. Comma is frequently interpreted as a mark 
of connection and continuity, which distinguishes, rather than 
divides, the parts of a sentence. Comma also meant, in Shake- 
speare's day, "a short member of a sentence or period" {Ox- 
ford Dictionary) , and Professor Dowden interprets: " Here amity 
begins and amity ends the period, and peace stands between 
like a dependent clause." But no explanation is very satis- 
factory, and the line may be corrupt. 

43. * As 'es of great charge. Hamlet is punning upon as 
(still pronounced ass in some of the midland dialects) and ass. 
Charge means both " weight, importance," and " load, bur- 
den." 

58. They are not near my conscience. How far is 
Hamlet's justification of his action adequate? 

63. Does it not . . . stand me now upon: is it not in- 
cumbent upon me? Thinks't thee: seems it to thee. Think 
is here the old verb meaning to seem, and thee is dative; cf. 
methinks. 

70. In: into. 

84. Water-fly. " A water-fly skips up and down upon the 
surface of the water, without any apparent purpose, and is 
thence the proper emblem of a busy trifler " (Johnson). 



Scene II.] Notes and Comment 239 

89. Chough: either, a chattering jackdaw; or, a chujf or 
churl. 

97-104. cf. Ill, ii, 393-99. * 

108. Cf. Love's Labour's Lost, V, i, 103-04: "I do beseech 
thee, remember thy courtesy; I beseech thee, apparel thy head." 

109-16. Osric is speaking an extremely affected court jargon. 

112. Excellent differences: various excellences. 

117-20. Hamlet is outdoing Osric at his own game, and 
intentionally speaking so as to perplex him. But neither =:ior 
all that; a boat yaivs, when it sheers from its course, or steers 
wildly. The general sense of the opening lines is: His de- 
scription suffers no loss in your account, though, I know, to 
enumerate his qualities after the manner of an inventory would 
be to make memory dizzy in the effort to compute them, and (for 
all that) stagger in its attempt to overtake him. 

122. Of great article: "of great moment, importance" 
(Oxford Dictionary). 

123-25. The only thing that resembles him is his own re- 
flection in his mirror, and whoever would follow him must 
emulate his shadow. 

128. The concernancy: come to what concerns us. A 
coined word. 

129. More rawer. See note on II, i, ii. 

131-32. Can you not understand your own jargon when an- 
other uses it? Surely you can, if you try. This seems, at 
least, to be the sense of Horatio's words. 

133. What imports the nomination: what does the nam- 
ing signify, lead up to? 

141. Would not much approve me: would not be much 
to my credit. 

149-50. In his meed he's unfellowed: in his merit he has 
no equal, 

155. Imponed: staked, laid as a wager. It is clear from line 
171 that Osric is employing the word in a sense of his own. 
No other use of it in this sense is known. 

157. Hanger: the strap by which the rapier was suspended 
from the girdle. 

160. Liberal conceit: elaborate design. 

162. Must be edified by the margent: would need the in- 
struction of a marginal commentary. 



240 Notes and Comment [ActV. 

174. Twelve for nine. The statement of the wager is some- 
what obscure. For various interpretations see the Variorum. 
As Dr. Johnson remarked: "The passage is of no importance; 
it is sufficient that there was a wager." 

I93-94' " It was believed that the young lapwings were in 
such haste to be hatched, that they ran off with the shell upon 
their heads. The bird was therefore the symbol of a forward 
fellow" {Clarendon Press). 

195. He did comply with his dug: he paid compliments 
to his mother's breast. 

197. Drossy: mixed with impurities. Variously interpreted 
here as " frivolous," or, " pinchbeck, imitation." 

198. Outward habit of encounter: external forms that be- 
long to conversation. 

199. Yesty collection: frothy mass (of words). 

200. Fond and winnowed: foolish and well-sifted (or, 
perhaps, over-refined) — the reading of the Folios. Fann'd, pro- 
found, and sound have all been suggested for fond, which does 
not seem to fit here. The general sense is apparently that the 
frothy verbiage of such affected persons as Osric either (i) 
gives them the appearance of expressing well-sifted opinions ; 
or, (2) leads them into the most absurd and fantastic opinions. 
The passage is obscure. 

214. In happy time: a mere phrase of courtesy; cf. a la 
bonne heure. 

220-21. Why has Hamlet kept himself in practice? 

222-35. Compare this sense of foreboding on Hamlet's part 
with the opposite presentiment in Romeo's case, just before the 
catastrophe {Romeo and Juliet, V, i, i-ii). What dramatic 
reason for the difference? 

237-55. It is difficult not to wish, with Dr. Johnson, that 
Hamlet had made some other apology to Laertes than the false 
excuse of madness. Yet a moment's thought is sufficient to 
show that there was no other reason that he could give. He 
still meant to carry out his purpose (see line 73) ; to tell the 
truth now would be to defeat that design at the crucial moment. 
And his disclaimer of a purposed evil (lines 251-55) is abso- 
lutely sincere. 

257~6i. The elder masters of knoivn honor are authorities 
in the code of honor ; when they give their opinion, fortified 



Scene II.] Notes and Comment 241 

by precedent, that Laertes may accept Hamlet's reparation 
without injury to his own name, he will be reconciled. Laertes's 
speech, of course, is basely treacherous. 

266. Foils. Hamlet is playing on the two meanings of foil: 
a background which sets off a jewel; and a blunted rapier for 
fencing. 

268. Stick fiery off: stand out in its brilliancy. 

283. Union: a fine pearl. The mention of the pearl is 
merely a pretext for putting poison in the cup at the proper 
moment. 

298. He's fat and scant of breath. Tradition has it that 
this line was written to meet the needs of Richard Burbadge, 
the great actor, who ivas fat, and required a moment's relief 
in the fencing. But fat may simply mean " out of training, 
' soft.' " 

310. Make a wanton of me: trifle with me, as if I were a 
spoiled child. For wanton, cf. King/ John, V, i, 70: "a beardless 
boy, A cocker'd silken wanton"; Richard II, V, iii, 10: "Young 
wanton and effeminate boy." 

328. Practice. See notes on II, ii, 38 ; IV, vii, 68, 139. 

333. Then, venom, to thy work. And so, at last, Ham- 
let attains his revenge — too late. 

347. Sergeant: " an officer whose duty it is to enforce the 
judgment of a tribunal or the commands of a person in author- 
ity " (Oxford Dictionary). The figure is not that of a sheriff's 
officer who arrests for debt, as is frequently stated. 

352. Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, IV, xv, 86-88: "What's 
brave, what's noble. Let's do it after the high Roman fashion. 
And make Death proud to take us." Cf. also Julius Ccesar, V, 
iii, 89 ; Macbeth, V, viii, 1-2. 

355. A wounded name. Cf. line 261. 

361-63. What structural part has the expedition of Fortinbras 
played in the drama? Why is it introduced here? 

364. O'er-crows: triumphs over — a figure drawn from the 
cock-pit. 

367. Voice: here equivalent to "vote," as also in line 403. 

368-69. The occurrents . . . Which have solicited: the 
occurrences which have prompted my action. 

370. Cracks: breaks. Another word of more dignified con- 
notation then than now. 



242 Notes and Comment [Act v. 

375. Cries on: either, proclaims; or, incites to. Probably 
the first. 

400. Rights of memory; rights that are remembered. 

403. His mouth: i. e., Hamlet's. In line 383 the same 
phrase refers to the King. Draw on more = lead more to 
speak. 

408. Put on: put to the test. In line 394 put o« = insti- 
gated. 

409. Proved most royally: showed himself most royal. 
It is often said that the play should have ended with 

Hamlet's "The rest is silence" (line 369), or at least with the 
two lines that immediately follow. Justify the close of the play 
as Shakespeare gives it. 



aUESTIONS ON THE PLAY 

What are some ,of the most marked differences that you ob- 
serve between a tragedy like Hamlet and one like Macbeth? 
With which of the two is Julius Casar the more closely re- 
lated? Why? What have Hamlet and Brutus in common? 
What have Hamlet and Macbeth in common? When Macbeth 
hesitates to act, what are his grounds? Compare them with 
Hamlet's reasons. 

Collect all the occasions in the play when Hamlet really acts. 
In how many cases is his action planned by him? In how many 
is it on the spur of the moment? Turn back to the Introduction, 
pages xx-xxii, and consider carefully the analyses there given 
of Hamlet's character. With which do you most nearly agree? 

What differences can you point out between Ophelia's real 
and Hamlet's assumed madness? If you have read Kin^ Lear, 
consider also the real and assumed madness in that play. 

Summarize the characteristics of Claudius as they are shown 
in what he says and does. In what sense is it true that he 
and Hamlet are "mighty opposites"? If you have seen Hamlet 
on the stage, criticise the usual interpretation of Claudius's 
part. 

Contrast Gertrude and Lady Macbeth in their relation to 
their husbands. Compare both with Brutus's Portia. Con- 



Questions on the Play 243 

trast Laertes and Horatio with Hamlet. Could any of the 
characters be spared from the play? 

Study the soliloquies in the play. For what purpose does 
Shakespeare use them? Compare the number in Hamlet with the 
number in Macbeth and Julius Casar. Can you account for 
the difference? Why is the soliloquy rarely used in modern 
plays? 

Why is Hamlet, in spite of all its problems, still one of the 
most popular of all plays, old or new? What elements of 
melodrama are in the play? What is it that keeps it from 
being melodrama? 

Collect the passages in Hamlet that have become proverbial. 
What has given them their hold on everybody's mind? What 
passages in the play seem to you to be the greatest poetry? 



GLOSSARY 

Absolute, literal, exact to the Argument, plot; III, ii, i49, 

point of hair-splitting; 242. 

V, i, 148; consummate, Arras, hangings of tapestry; 

perfect; V, ii, m. II. ". 163. 

Abstract, epitome, summary; Assign, appurtenance; V, ii, 

II, ii, 548. ^57. 

Abuse, deceive; I, v, 38; II, Avouch, avowal; I, 1, 57- 

ii, 632. 

Abuse, deception, hoax; IV, Bate, except, deduct; V, 11, 

vii, 51. ^3- 

Adulterate, adulterous; I, v, Batten, glut oneself; III, iv, 

41. 67. 

Aery, brood (in a nest) ; II, Beaver, the lower part of the 

ij 25^, face-guard of a helmet; 

Affection, inclination, tend- I, ii, 230. 

ency; III, i, 170. Beshrew, a mild imprecation. 

Amiss, mischief, disaster; not so strong as curse; 

IV, V, 18. II, i» "3- 

An, if— frequently used to- Bespeak, speak to; II, ii, 140. 

gether with if; I, v, 176, Bestow, stow, place; III, iv, 

177- ^76. 

Angle, fishing-hook and line; Beteem, permit, allow; I, ii, 

V, ii, 66. 141- 

Antic, odd, fantastic; I, v. Blazon, publication, procla- 

1^2. mation; I, v, zi. 

Appointment, equipment; Blench, flinch; II, ii, 626. 

IV, vi, 16. Bloat, bloated; III, iv, 182. 

Approve, corroborate, justify; Board, accost; II, ii, 169. 

I i^ 29. Bodykins, a diminutive (ex- 

245 



246 



Glossary 



pressing affect^n) of 

body; II, ii, 554. 
Bravery, ostentation, display; 

V, ii, 79. 
Broad, free, unrestrained; 

III, iv, 2. 
Bruit, noise abroad; I, ii, 127. 
Bulk, frame, especially the 

breast; II, i, 95. 

Candied, sugared, honeyed ; 

III, ii, 65. 
Canon, rule, law; I, ii, 132. 
Capable, susceptible of im- 
pression; III, iv, 127. 
Carouse, drink a toast; V, ii, 

300. 
Cast, casting; I, i, 73. 
Cataplasm, salve; IV, vii, 

144. 
Cautel, deceit, duplicity; I, 

iii, 15. 
Cerements, waxed linen, used 

as a shroud ; I, iv, 48. 
Chapless, without the lower 

jaw; V, i, 97. 
Character, handwriting ; IV, 

vii, 52. 
Charge, expense; IV, iv, 47, 
Cicatrice, scar; IV, iii, 62. 
Clepe, call; I, iv, 19. 
Closely, secretly; III, i, 29. 
Closet, a private room; II, 

h 77- 
Coagulate, clotted ; II, ii, 484. 
Color, give a pretext for, 



make seem more natural; 

III, i, 45. 
Commutual, mutual; III, ii, 

170. 
Compost, manure; III, iv, 

151. 

Compulsive, compelling; III, 
iv, 86. 

Condolements, sorrow, 
mourning; I, ii, 93. 

Confine, appointed limits ; I, 
i> 1551 place of confine- 
ment; II, ii, 251. 

Conjunctive, closely joined; 

IV, vii, 14. 
Constantly, firmly, fixedly; I, 

ii, 235- 
Continent, receptacle ; IV, 
iv, 64; summary, abstract; 

V, ii, 115. 

Cope, encounter, have to do 

with; III, ii, 60. 
Cote, pass by, leave behind; 

II, ii, 330. 

Countenance, favor; IV, ii, 
16 ; encouragement, au- 
thority; V, i, 30. 

Cozen, cheat, delude; III, iv, 

77- 
Cozenage, cheating, deceit ; 

V, ii, 67. 
Crants, wreaths; V, i, 255. 
Credent, credulous; I, iii, 30. 
Crowner, coroner; V, i, 4. 
Cunning, skilful contrivance; 

II, ii, 619. 



Glossary 247 

Dalliance, trifling, wanton Espial, spy; III, i, 32. 

play; I, iii, 50. Even, fair, honest; II, ii, 298. 

Dansker, Dane; II, i, 7. Exception, disapprobation; 

Dearth, clearness, value; V, V, ii, 342. 

ii 123. Eyas, a young unfledged 

Delate, convey; I, ii, 38. hawk; II, ii, 355- 
Denote, indicate, mark; I, 

ii gj. Faculty, power, ability; II, 

Dispatch, deprive by death; ii, 3i7- 

I V y^. Fantasy, imagination ; I, i, 23, 

Disposition, nature, constitu- 54- 

tion; I, iv, 55; mood; III, Fardel, burden, pack; III, i, 

i, 12. 76. 

Doubt, fear; II, ii, 56; III, i, Favor, aspect, features, face; 

174; hesitate to believe; V, i, 214. 

II, ii, 116, 117, 119; sus- Fay, faith; II, ii, 271. 

pect; I, ii, 256; II, ii, Feature, shape; III, ii, 25. 

ng^ Fee, value; I, iv, 65. 

Dout, extinguish; IV, vii, 192. Fell, fierce, cruel; V, ii, 61, 

Down-gyved, hanging like 347- 

gyves, or fetters ; II, i, 80. Felly, the wooden rim of a 

Drab, a lewd woman; II, ii, wheel, into which the 

615. spokes fit; II, ii, 517- 

Drabbing, following loose Fierce, violent, terrible; I, i, 

women; II, i, 26. 121. 

Drift, tendency, turn; II, i, 10. Flaw, a blast of wind; V, i, 

239- 

Ecstasy, madness; III, i, 168; Fond, foolish; I, v, 99. 

Ill iv 74. Fordo, destroy; V, i, 244. 

Emulate, 'emulous; I, i, 83. Forgery, lie, false attribu- 

Enact, act; III, ii, 108. tion; II, i, 20. 

Encompassment, circuitous Frame, shape, form; I, 11, 20; 

course; II, i, 10. order; III, ii, 321.^ 

Escot, to pay a reckoning Fretted, adorned; II, ii, 313- 

(or scot) for, to maintain; Front, brow, forehead; III, 

II, ii, 262. iv, 56. 



248 



Glossary 



Fust, grow mouldy; IV, iv, 
39- 

Gage, pledge; I, i, 91. 
Gaingiving, misgiving; V, ii, 

225. 
Gender, kind, sort; IV, vii, 

18. 
Gentry, gentility, courtesy; 

II, ii, 22; V, ii, 114. 
Germane, related, akin; V, ii, 

165. 
Gib, tom-cat; III, iv, 190. 
Grained, ingrained, indelible; 

III, iv, 90. 

Greenly, foolishly; IV, v, 83. 

Gross, sum, entirety; I, i, 

68; palpable, obvious; 

IV, iv, 46. 

Hap, fortune; IV, iii, 70. 
Happily, haply, perhaps; I, 

i, 134; II, ii, 402. 
Happiness, felicity (of 

speech) ; II, ii, 212. 
Hatchment, escutcheon ; IV, 

V, 214. 

Haunt, resort; IV, i, 18. 

Hautboy, oboe; [stage direc- 
tion, after] III, ii, 145. 

Havoc, indiscriminate slaugh- 
ter; V, ii, 375. 

Head, armed force; IV, v, 

lOI. 

Hearsed, coffined; I, iv, 47. 



Hectic, a fever; IV, iii, 68. 
Hem, to cry " hem " ; IV, v, 

5. 
Hent, grip, seizure; III, iii, 

88. 
Hold up, maintain; V, i, 34. 
Hoodman-blind, blind-man's 

buff; III, iv, 77. 

Impasted, made into paste; 

II, ii, 481. 
Imperious, imperial; V, i, 

236. 
Importing, concerning; V, ii, 

21. 
Imposthume, abscess; IV, iv, 

27. 
Incapable, unable to feel ; IV, 

vii, 179. 
Incorpsed, of one body with; 

IV, vii, 88. 
Incorrect, unsubdued, un- 

chastened; I, ii, 95. 
Indifferent, average, neither 

good nor bad, high nor 

low; II, ii, 231. 
Indirections, indirect means; 

II, i, 66. 
Infusion, endowments; V, ii, 

122. 
Ingenious, keen, quick; V, i, 

271. 
Inheritor, possessor; V, i, i2i. 
Inquire, inquiry; II, i, 4. 
Insinuation, meddling ; V, 

ii, 59- 



Glossary 



249 



Instant, instantaneous; I, v, 

71- 
Instrumental, helpful, serv- 
iceable ; I, ii, 48. 

Jointress, dowager; I, ii, 9. 
Jowl, knock, dash; V, i, 84. 
Jump, just, exactly; I, i, 65; 
V, ii, 386. 

Keep, resort; II, i, 8. 
Kettle, kettle-drum; V, ii„ 

286. 
Kibe, chilblain; V, i, 153. 

Lard, garnish; IV, v, 37; V, 
ii, 20. 

Lenten, meager, like the fare 
in Lent; II, ii, 329. 

Liberal, free-spoken, licen- 
tious; IV, vii, 171. 

List, muster-roll, number; I, 
i, 98; I, ii, 32. 

Marry, an exclamation — 
originally the name of the 
Virgin Mary; I, iii, 90. 

Mart, traffic; I, i, 74. 

Mazzard, head (a term of 
contempt) ; V, i, 97. 

Merely, completely, abso- 
lutely; I, ii, 137- 

Milch, moist (lit., milk-giv- 
ing) ; II, ii, 540. 

Mope, to be stupid, or in- 



capable of reason; III, iv, 
81. 

Mortal, deadly, fatal; IV, 
vii, 143. 

Mortised, joined by . mor- 
tise ; III, iii, 20. 

Mountebank, quack, impos- 
tor; IV, vii, 142. 

Mow, grimace; II, ii, 282. 

Mutine, mutiny; III, iv, 83; 
mutineer; V, ii, 6. 



Naked, destitute, stripped of 

one's belongings; IV, vii, 

44. 
Napkin, handkerchief; V, ii, 

299. 
Native, cognate, kindred; I, 

ii, 47. 
Note, denote, show; I, v, 178. 
Note, attention; III, ii, 89. 
Noyance, injury; III, iii, 13. 

Occulted, hidden; III, ii, 85. 
O'erreach, overtake; III, i, 

17- 
O'ersized, smeared; II, ii, 

484. 
O'erteemed, worn out with 

child-bearing; II, ii, 531. 
Ominous, fatal; II, ii, 476. 
Opposite, opponent; V, ii, 62. 
Orchard, garden; I, v, 35. 
Ordinant, ordaining, ruling; 

V, ii, 48. 



250 



Glossary 



Organ, instrument; IV, vii, 

71- 
Orisons, prayers; III, i, 89. 
Outrageous, violent, extreme ; 

III, i, 58. 
Overlook, peruse; IV, vi, 13. 

Paddock, toad; III, iv, 190. 
Pall, become vain, decay; V, 

ii, 9. 
Pandar, play the go-between 

for; III, iv, 88. 
Pardon, leave, permission; 

III, ii, 329; IV, vii, 46. 
Parle, parley; I, i, 62. 
Partisan, a kind of halberd; 

I, i, 140. 

Pass, thrust; V, ii, 61. 

Pat, in the nick of time, ex- 
actly, aptly; III, iii, 73. 

Perdy, a corruption of par 
Dieu; III, ii, 305. 

Perusal, study, examination ; 

II, i, 90. 

Peruse, examine; IV, vii, 

137- 

Picked, refined, choice; V, i, 
151. 

Plausive, pleasing; I, iv, 30. 

Porch, vestibule, entrance 
(fig.) ; I, V, 63. 

Porpentine, porcupine; I, v, 
20. 

Powers, forces; IV, iv, 9. 

Precurse, forerunning, her- 
alding; I, i, 131. 



Pregnant, ready - witted, 
clever; II, ii, 212. 

Pressure, impress, stamp ; I, 
V, 100; III, ii, 27. 

Probation, proof; I, i, 156. 

Proof, resisting power, im- 
penetrability; II, ii, 512. 

Proper, peculiar, belonging to, 
own; II, i, 114;- V, ii, 66. 

Proposer, speaker, talker; II, 
ii, 297. 

Providence, foresight; IV, i, 

17- 
Pursy, short-winded ; hence, 
fat, pampered; III, iv, 
153- 

Quarry, a heap of slaugh- 
tered game; V, ii, 375. 

Question, talk, converse, 
(trans.) speak to; I, i, 45. 

Question, conversation; II, i, 

ID. 

Quick, living; V, i, 137. 

Quiddits, subtleties, fine dis- 
tinctions ; V, i, 107. 

Quillets^ quibbles; V, i, 108. 

Quit, requite, pay off scores; 
V, ii, 68, 280. 

Recorder, a kind of flageolet; 

III, ii, 303. 
Reechy, filthy, stinking; III, 

iv, 184. 
Relative, closely related, to 

the purpose; II, ii, 633. 



Glossary 



251 



Repast, feed, IV, v, 147. 
Replication, reply; IV, ii, 13. 
Resolve, dissolve; I, ii, 130. 
Resort, visit; II, ii, 143. 
Respect, consideration; III, 

i, 68. 
Rivals, partners; I, i, 13- 
Robustious, boisterous, noisy; 

III, ii, 10. 
Romage, bustle, turmoil, I, i, 

107. 
Rood, cross, crucifix; III, iv, 

14. 
Round, direct, straightfor- 
ward, plain-spoken; III, i, 

191; III, iv, 5. 
Rouse, a deep draught, a 

bumper; I, ii, 127; I, iv, 



Sans, without; III, iv, 79. 

Saw, saying, maxim ; I, v, 100. 

Sconce, head (a term of con- 
tempt) ; V, i, no. 

Scrimer, fencer; IV, vii, loi. 

Secure, keep from danger or 
harm; I, v, 112. 

Seized of, possessed of (legal 
term) ; I, i, 89. 

Sense, understanding, reason; 

I, ii, 99- 
Sensible, perceiving, feeling; 

I, i, 57- 
Shard, fragment of pottery; 

V, i, 254. 
Shark up, gather up eagerly 



and indiscriminately; I, i, 
98. 

Shent, reproved, rebuked ; 
III, ii, 416. 

Shrewdly, sharply, keenly; 
I, iv, I. 

Simple, medicinal herb; IV, 
vii, 145. 

Sith, since; II, ii, 6, 12. 

Skyish, reaching the sky; V, 
i, 276. 

Slander, disgrace; I, iii, 133. 

Sliver, a branch; IV, vii, 174. 

Sometime, one-time, former; 
I, ii, 8. 

Sometimes, sometime, for- 
merly; I, i, 49. 

Sort, harmonize, be fitting; I, 
i, 109; class, associate; II, 
ii, 274. 
Spies, scouts; IV, v, 78. 
Splenitive, passionate, im- 
petuous; V, i, 284. 
Springe, snare; V, ii, 317. 
Stithy, smithy, forge; III, ii, 

89. 
Stoup, a drinking vessel ; V, 

i, 68. 
Straight, immediately; III, 

iv, I. 
Strumpet, prostitute; II, ii, 

515- 
Stuck, thrust; IV, vii, 162. 
Subject, the people, subjects; 

I, i, 72; I, ii, 33- 
Supposal, opinion; I, ii, 18. 



252 



Glossary 



Table, tablet; I, v, 98. 

Tax, censure, reproach ; I, iv, 
18. 

Tell, count; I, ii, 238. 

Tempered, mixed, compound- 
ed; V, ii, 339. 

Tenable, kept back, retained; 
I, ii, 248. 

Tent, probe; II, ii, 626. 

Tetter, a skin disease ; I, v, 

71- 

Thereon, on that account; II, 
ii, 165. 

Thews, sinews; I, iii, 12. 

Throughly, thoroughly ; IV, 
V, 136. 

Toil, cause to toil ; I, i, 72. 

Touched, implicated; IV, v, 
207. 

Toward, near at hand, immi- 
nent, in preparation; I, i, 
77; V, ii, 376. 

Toy, trifle; IV, v, 18. 

Trace, follow; V, ii, 125. 

Tristful, sad; III, iv, 50. 

Trumpet, trumpeter; I, i, 150. 

Unbated, unblunted; IV, vi«i, 

139; V, ii, 328. 
Unbraced, unfastened; II, i, 

78. 
Unction, salve, ointment; III, 

iv, 145; IV, vii, 142. 



Ungored, unwounded, un- 
hurt; V, ii, 261. ■{ 
Ungracious, graceless; I, iii, 

47. 
Unkennel, disclose, reveal ; 

III, ii, 86. 
Unprevailing, unavailing; I, 

ii, 107. 
Upspring, the name of a 

dance ; I, iv, 9. 

Valanced, fringed (with a 
beard) ; II, ii, 442. 

Variable, various; III, i, 180. 

Ventages, orifices for the pas- 
sage of air; III, ii, 372. 

Videlicet, that is to say; II, 
i, 61. 

Virtue, power, efficacy; IV, v, 
155; IV, vii, 145. 

Vulgar, ordinary, common- 
place; I, ii, 99. 

Wake, to hold nightly revel ; 
I, iv, 8. 

Wassail, a drinking bowl, 
carousal ; I, iv, 9. 

Whiles, while; III, iv, 148. 

Wholesome, sane, sensible; 
III, ii, 328. 

Windlass, winding turn, cir- 
cuitous path; II, i, 65. 



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